Hearsay rule didn’t bar admission of cellphone records 
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: business records exception, cellphone records, evidence, hearsay
A call spreadsheet evidencing a robbery defendant’s cellphone communications was admissible at trial under the business records exception to the hearsay rule, the California Court of Appeal has ruled in affirming a conviction.
Testimony on prior stabbing inadmissible in manslaughter trial
Published: November 29, 2012
Tags: evidence
The introduction of evidence in a manslaughter trial that the defendant once stabbed a man in the thigh as evidence of her general anger towards men was improper and extremely prejudicial, New York’s highest court has ruled in reversing her conviction.
Trial lawyers catering to jurors’ demands for visual evidence
Published: November 26, 2012
Tags: 20 Things Lawyers Need to Know in 2013, courtroom visuals, evidence
As jurors demand slicker presentation of evidence, lawyers are hiring artists, computer graphic designers and illustrators to transform piles of documents into light, sound and images.
Challenges of authenticating social media evidence
By:
Correy Stephenson
Published: October 16, 2012
Tags: authentication, evidence, social media
A MySpace post cautioning against snitching to the police. A picture on Facebook showing an allegedly injured, emotionally traumatized plaintiff dancing and enjoying herself. A Foursquare check-in putting an individual at the scene of an accident.
Evidence from social media could be essential to a case, but how do you get it in front of a jury?
Benchmarks: Court rules fMRI lie detection results inadmissible
Published: September 10, 2012
Tags: evidence, fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging, lie detection
In a case of first impression for any jurisdiction in the country, the 6th Circuit ruled Friday that a criminal defendant could not introduce results from a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) lie detection test to prove the veracity of his denials of wrongdoing.
Manual gives judges revised help with scientific evidence
By:
Correy Stephenson
Published: July 12, 2012
Tags: Daubert, evidence, forensic evidence, scientific evidence
The third edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence has been released, providing a revised roadmap for judges in evaluating whether scientific evidence is admissible.
For lawyers, the manual gives a framework for what judges will be focusing on during evidentiary hearings.
Trial lawyers cater to jurors’ demands for visual evidence
By:
Sylvia Hsieh
Published: June 8, 2012
Tags: evidence, jury
As jurors demand slicker, speedier, sound bite-like presentation of trial evidence, lawyers are hiring visual artists, computer graphic designers and illustrators to transform piles of documents into light, sound and images.
Trial strategy: Should you let jurors handle the evidence?
By:
Correy Stephenson
Published: April 13, 2012
Tags: evidence, jury
A recent study by the University of Notre Dame suggests that humans learn and retain information differently if their sense of touch is engaged.
Trial consultant Douglas Keene said this means that the value of touching a piece of evidence cannot be overstated.
Text messages shouldn’t have been admitted
Published: April 9, 2012
Tags: cell phone, evidence
Texts from a stolen cell phone should not have been admitted in a robbery trial without evidence corroborating that the defendant had authored the messages, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled.
EVIDENCE
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: evidence, harmless error, Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed as improvidently granted a case raising the issue of when erroneously admitting hearsay evidence is harmless error.
See previously “Supreme Court considers harmless error standard”
U.S. Supreme Court. Vasquez v. U.S., No. 11-199. April 2, 2012. Lawyers USA No. 993-3688.
