Rules of Evidence

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the laws of reciprocal discovery and evidence disclosure. First, the paper discusses the purpose of reciprocal discovery and the penalties for failing to offer reciprocal discovery by either the defense or the prosecution. The paper then looks at the exclusionary rule - its purpose and its application. The importance of these rules to protect and/or exclude evidence is also discussed.

From the Paper:

"No matter how you look at it there is no real way to dismiss the utilization of certain rules to protect and or exclude evidence. The defendant must retain his or her constitutional rights. The prosecution and investigators must also be accountable to these rights to ensure that the judicial system in this nation does not become a free for all of wrongful or unfair convictions, motivated by speed and necessity rather than good skilled police and legal work. It is also important to note that many legal violations of the disclosure laws and events that would elicit the use of the exclusionary rule have ended in false convictions, giving further proof to the efficacy of the law."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hall, Jerome. General Principles of Criminal Law. 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1960.
• The Justice Project, Expanded Discovery in Criminal Cases, 2007, March 15, 2008 from <http://www.thejusticeproject.org/solution/Discovery/discovery-lr.pdf>.
• Mirfield, Peter. Silence, Confessions, and Improperly Obtained Evidence. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997.
• Myers, Therese M. "Reciprocal Discovery Violations: Visiting the Sins of the Defense Lawyer on the Innocent Client." American Criminal Law Review 33.4 (1996): 1277-1298.
• "Proposed Codification of Disclosure of Favorable Information under Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 11 and 16." American Criminal Law Review 41.1 (2003): 93.

More papers on Rules of Evidence:

• Term Paper # 101361 : "Canadian Rules of Evidence"
• Research Paper # 131366 : "Rules of Evidence and Defendants"
• Term Paper # 133635 : "Science and Keeping Up with the Law of Evidence"

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