Criminal Evidence: Affordable Learning Grant

Evidence law defined and the importance of.

Rules of Evidence Basics

History of the FREs

In this article a comparative historical analysis is given of the development of the criminal law of evidence between 1750 and 1870 in, on the one hand, English law and, on the other hand, in the continental jurisdictions of France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Chapter 2 of Introduction to Criminal Investigation: processes, practices and thinking

Batson, a black man, was on trial charged with second-degree burglary and receipt of stolen goods. During the jury selection, the prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to strike the four black persons on the venire, resulting in a jury composed of all whites. Batson was convicted on both of the charges against him.

Alabama, acting on behalf of T.B. (the mother), sought paternity and child support from J.E.B.(the putative father). A jury found for T.B. In forming the jury, Alabama used its peremptory strikes to eliminate nine of the ten men who were in the jury pool; J.E.B. use a peremptory challenge to strike a tenth man in the pool.

David Washington pleaded guilty to murder in a Florida state court. At sentencing, his attorney did not seek out character witnesses or request a psychiatric evaluation. Subsequently, the trial court sentenced Mr. Washington to death finding no mitigating circumstances to rule otherwise. After exhausting his state court remedies, Mr. Washington sought habeas corpus relief in a Florida federal district court. He argued that his Sixth Amendment right was violated because he had ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing.

No matter how careful they are, criminals almost always leave some trace of their identity behind. In this program, legal and forensic experts explain different types of evidence and how each is gathered and used in court. The work of various forensic specialists is described, and the Hollywood version of crime scene investigation is compared to what really happens at a site and in the lab. The video also looks at a few drawbacks of digital evidence and at how fingerprinting stacks up against DNA samples—the new gold standard in crime detection.