ACCA has issued a Memorandum Opinion in United States v. Markis, ARMY 20070580 (A. Ct. Crim. App. 18 August 2009). Appellant had given three pre-trial admissions to CID. The defense sought to exclude the confessions as being coerced. The military judge permitted the defense to present expert testimony on coerced…
Here is an interesting case from FederalEvidence blog on how the 8th Circuit deals with the scratchy issue of a poor audio recording. Factors For Admitting “Partially Inaudible” Recordings Eighth Circuit rules that partially inaudible recordings with a confidential informant may be admitted when the trial court finds that they…
From time to time I try to get a judge to accept and instruct on an adverse inference. Or at least argue it. Generally adverse inferences come up when evidence is “lost” or there has been a refusal of discovery. Basically the argument goes that if the evidence isn’t provided…
Here is an interesting piece about Members having certain types of electronic evidence in the deliberation room. A few federal courts provide guidance on the use of electronic evidence during jury deliberations, including the Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instructions and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire.…
Tenth Circuit Joins Consensus On Admissibility Of Fingerprint Evidence In conspiracy to possess marijuana and illegal firearm possession prosecution, expert fingerprint testimony identifying the defendant’s thumb print on guns and ammunition was admissible under FRE 702 and Daubert even though the defendant raised “questions regarding whether fingerprint analysis can be…
I routinely counsel clients not to talk with anyone regarding their case. Here is a new Navy case which is a reminder. There is no evidence to suggest the appellant was engaged in plea discussions or negotiations with LtCol C at the time he repeated the advice from his father-in-law.…
I have previously commented about evidence of the victim’s character for violence and specific incidents. To refresh – there are several ways the assault victim’s character for violent behavior can become relevant and admissible in an assault case. a. The defense puts on opinion testimony about the victim’s violent, threatening,…
An item sometimes missed or perhaps not always explored in cases with a confession is the question of corroboration. Here is an Army case that discusses the issue quite well. The case recognizes that the amount of corroboration is small so it’s easy to gloss over the corroboration issue. Here…
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Concluding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the government to present expert evidence that a thumb print found on some of the contraband recovered by the authorities was a match to Baines’ print, we affirm the judgment…
Does the SODDI defense work? Here are some thoughts or considerations. Elizabeth R. Tenney, Hayley M.D. Cleary, Barbara A. Spellman, "This Other Dude Did It!" A Test of the Alternative Explanation Defense, 21 The Jury Expert July 2009.