Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Final Exam 2023

Downlaod in Regular Print or Large print. For those who wish to see it online (formatted slightly off), the full text is reprinted after the jump.

Exam instructions can be found here or as first pages of the downloaded exam.

If you have any administrative questions or problems, reach out to the registrar's office.

The printed exam is due in my office by 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, November 29.

Good luck.

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Final Exam Information

Evidence

Final Examination

Professor Howard Wasserman

FIU College of Law

Fall 2023

After the jump. This will be the cover sheet for the exam.

Monday, November 20, 2023

Final Class

Monday audio.

Q&A Review session at 10:30 next Monday, November 27. I am available for questions in person the rest of today and next Monday; I am available for questions via email until 10 a.m. next Tuesday, November 28.

The exam will be posted at noon on Tuesday, November 28, due in hard copy in my office at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 29.

Thursday, November 16, 2023

More reverse 404(b)

Earlier in the semester, I gave you a clip from the movie The Jagged Edge as an example of "reverse 404(b)"--the defense using other crimes, wrongs, or acts to establish third-party guilt. Here is a real example, from a New York Times article, of reverse 404(b) to establish self-defense.

The case involves a high-profile assault by a homeless man of a neighborhood resident in San Francisco, a story that became a touchstone for tales of the city's "doom loop" of drugs, homelessness, and urban decay. Video evidence of the attack shows the victim spraying the defendant with bear mace prior to the assault. And videos later emerged of eight other incidents in which someone resembling the victim sprayed homeless persons with bear mace. So you can see what the defense would like to do with these videos--and spend some time on the theory for why and how.

The case is due to go to trial in a few weeks. The court found probable cause for the charges because of evidence the attack went beyond what self-defense justifies.

Rap lyrics as evidence

The trial court in the Georgia conspiracy trial of rapper Young Thug conditionally admitted some of his lyrics as evidence of intent and wrongdoing, rejecting arguments based on the First Amendment, as well as Georgia's equivalent to 404(b) and 403. We discussed this in class and it is, unfortunately, quite common.

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Exam and Review

We will have a Q&A Review session at 10:30 a.m. Monday, November 27.

The exam is scheduled for 1:30-4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 29. But I want to give you 28+ hours for the exam. So it will be available for download on the blog at noon on Tuesday, November 28 and due in person at 4:30 on Wednesday, November 29 (when the in-class would end).

The exam consists of 10 questions and is worth 120 points. Same format as the preliminary exam.

For Next Class

Tuesday audio. See the separate post for review and exam information.

We will finish Question # 222, then do a broad overview of the Confrontation Clause; read Chapter VIII in Capra (only about 15 pages).

Also, SPOTs evaluations are open. Please complete them--we do welcome the feedback.

Monday, November 13, 2023

Cert grant in FRE 704(b) case

SCOTUS granted cert today in Diaz v. United States, a case dealing with FRE 704(b), the rule prohibiting experts from testifying that a criminal defendant acted with the requisite mental state. The defendant in a drug case offered an "blind mule" defense (he did not realize he was carrying drugs); the prosecution rebutted with xpert testimony that drug dealers do not "typically" trust large amounts of drugs to unknown couriers, so in most circumstances a driver carrying the amount of drugs as Diaz knew he was transporting drug

The court should resolve a circuit split as to the scope of FRE 704(b)--whether it only prohibits expert opinion as to this defendant's mental state ("Diaz knew he was carrying drugs") or whether it also prohibits expert opinion about a general group of people that includes the defendant by obvious implication ("anyone carrying as much as Diaz was carrying knew he was carrying").

The Court will schedule the argument for later in the Term. Note this is the first pure FRE case the Court has taken in several years.

For Next Class

Monday audio.

Prep Residual Exception and Layered Hearsay and the associated problems. We will begin the discussion with FRE 804(b)(6) and FRE 807.

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

For Next Class

Tuesday audio.

We continue with Declarant Unavailable and ## 215-16. Is Holman's statement against interest? If it is, is he unavailable? And what can the plaintiff do to make him unavailable or to get this evidence?

Move to Layered Hearsay and Residual Exception.