Greatest Legal Engine Every Invented

We shared the quotation about cross-examination ("greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth"), which originates with John Henry Wigmore (former dean of Northwestern Law and the leading early-20th-century evidence scholar). But he went further with it, writing in 1911:

the final establishment of the right of cross-examination by counsel, at the beginning of the 1700s, gave to our law of evidence the distinction of possessing the most efficacious expedient ever invented for the extraction of truth (although, to be sure, like torture, — that great instrument of the continental system, — it is almost equally powerful for the creation of false impressions.

As with much of what we cover in this class (or frankly any other), it goes both ways.

 

For Tuesday, September 2

Tuesday audio.

Prep the rest of Character and Bad Acts, covering 404(b) and US v. Bell. What does it mean for character to be an essential element of charge or claim? How does that square with 404(a)? What sorts of things are covered and what are not? Is murder? What about perjury?

What are the various permissible uses under 404(b)(2)? 

For Tuesday, August 26

Monday audio.

We continue with Character. For tomorrow, prep FRE 404(a) and 405, along with Problems 15-27 and pp. 69-89 in LCS. Do not worry about FRE 404(b).

We will begin with when evidence of a character trait might be admissible (without looking at the exceptions in FRE 404(a)(2) and (3)). Then we will work the assigned problems.

We will get to FRE 404(b)(2) and the rest of the LCS reading next week. 

For Monday, August 25

Tuesday audio.

Prep the remainder of Introduction to Relevance. Become familiar with the facts and basics of both cases.

Move to the beginning of Character Evidence. Read FRE 404(a) and the ACN, along with Capra pp.n69-71. We will just get into the basics of what character evidence is and why it is problematic.

 

For August 19

Monday audio. Very nice first day.

I will circulate a seating chart tomorrow; please try to keep the room reasonably balanced. We will spend the first few minutes tomorrow on the Syllabus.

Here, again, are the discussion questions. 

 We move to Relevance: Introduction to Relevance, with special attention to FRE 401-403. Become familiar with Mitchell and prep Questions #3-8 (that is as far as we will get). We will do the remaining questions and move on in class next Monday.