Here’s a useful and timely article. Hafemeister & Stockey on Criminal Responsibility of War Veterans with PTSD Thomas L. Hafemeister (University of Virginia School of Law) and Nicole A. Stockey have posted Last Stand? The Criminal Responsibility of War Veterans Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan W ith Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder…
I’ve already noted that Briscoe is a very interesting follow-on to Melendez-Diaz about the use of forensic analysis reports at trial where the chemist is not called as a witness. See here, here, and here. Here is a link to the Brief just filed on behalf of the 07-11191 Briscoe…
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…
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…
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…
I’ve commented earlier that I do not see Melendez-Diaz altering the drug urinalysis case in terms of laboratory evidence. Here is some additional thought which I think supports my conclusion. Q2: Peer review, forensic experts. One question that came up during oral argument, and remains after the ruling, is the…
Faulty Science?, By Maurice Possley Mistaken diagnoses of Shaken Baby Syndrome may have sent thousands of innocent people to prison, according to a new study — Read the research here Deborah Tuerkheimer, The Next Innocence Project: Shaken Baby Syndrome and the Criminal Courts, Washington University Law Review, Vol. 87, 2009.…
Here is the lead in for an piece on federalevidence.com blog: In medical malpractice case, trial court’s exclusion of defense expert as unqualified was not harmless error; the defense expert’s opinion that the plaintiff’s expert’s conclusion was not supported by the medical literature plaintiff cited did not require the defense…
What Are Your Intentions?: Sixth Circuit Finds No Plain Error In DEA Agents Drug Quantity Testimony Federal Rule of Evidence 704(b) provides that No expert witness testifying with respect to the mental state or condition of a defendant in a criminal case may state an opinion or inference as to…
Here is a link to Prof. Colin Miller’s site. The Areas Of My Expertise: Alabama Federal Court Allows Expert Eyewitness Testimony Despite Eleventh Circuit Precedent. Professor Miller discusses an 11th Circuit decision allowing expert testimony on the unreliability of eyewitness identifications. The court allowed testimony about problems with identifications, but…