Dec

27

A Visit From the Ghost of Jury Service Past

Posted by: | December 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment

What do you remember about November 29, 1995? That was the day when one of the jurors in Jesse Webster’s drug trafficking trial was out sick. The next day, with all twelve jurors again present, Webster was convicted. Many years later, Webster claimed in a petition for post-conviction relief that the eleven jurors who showed [...]

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Jun

25

Bullcoming Arrives, But Where’s the Path?

Posted by: | June 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment

The Supreme Court continues to refurnish the modern courtroom with eighteenth-century antiques. Without the slightest glint of irony, or even humor, the Court assessed the admissibility of twenty-first century scientific evidence using legal doctrine crafted on parchment with quill pens in an age when mirrors were placed to direct sunlight into the face of the [...]

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Apr

20

Springtime for Daubert: Insights From the EDWBA Panel

Posted by: | April 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment

In late January the “tort reform” package imposed the staid Daubert rules on the Wisconsin Rules of Evidence. Now it’s spring, although the weather feels a lot like January, and we must get serious about what to do with this gift that the judiciary did not want. The new rules require that expert testimony be [...]

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Mar

3

More “Bullcoming”? The Court Courts Confusion in Confrontation

Posted by: | March 3, 2011 | 3 Comments

In some ways I should be grateful for doctrinal train wrecks. Messy case law provides endless excuses for writing articles and blog posts as well as delivering lectures that purport to see “the way” through the swamp. Like a child’s kaleidoscope, such cases offer something different for everyone to see, and no one is clearly [...]

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Jan

7

Tort Reform 2011: True Science or Pure Mischief?

Posted by: | January 7, 2011 | 6 Comments

Well, that didn’t take long.  In its first week of political life, the new legislature has proposed sweeping “tort reform” legislation.  The compass of the 30-plus page bill is manifold, embracing punitive damages, fee shifting, product liability claims, and damages caps.  What interests me more, however, are proposed changes to the Wisconsin Rules of Evidence [...]

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Oct

12

Problems Aplenty With Forensic Science

Posted by: | October 12, 2010 | 2 Comments

Last weekend I had the pleasure to participate in a conference sponsored by the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers entitled, “Whatever Happened to the Science in Forensic Science?”  The conference centered upon the 2009 report by the National Academy of Science (NAS) that confirmed suspected and significant concerns about how the criminal justice system [...]

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Sep

27

District Court Keeps Out Social Framework Evidence in Employment Discrimination Case

Posted by: | September 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Thanks to Colin Miller over at the Evidence Prof Blog who has an interesting post up today at Feminist Law Professors about an evidence issue near and dear to my heart in a recent employment gender discrimination class action, E.E.O.C. v. Bloomberg L.P., 2010 WL 3466370 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) (can’t find a non-pay version, sorry). The [...]

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Aug

11

Seventh Circuit Cleans Up the “Other Bad Acts” Mess (a Little)

Posted by: | August 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment

I’ve blogged on a number of occasions about the messy state of the law relating to the admissibility of “other bad acts” evidence (e.g., here and here).  Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) indicates that other bad acts may not be used against a criminal defendant to show bad character or a propensity to commit crime. [...]

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May

19

Does the Threat of Future Copyright Infringement Amount to Irreparable Harm?

Posted by: | May 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Chief among the bundle of rights one obtains in property ownership is the right to exclude others from the use and enjoyment of that property.  This “sole and despotic dominion” that an individual commands over their property is placed in danger, of course, when the property becomes subject to the wants and needs of others.  [...]

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Jan

13

Seventh Circuit Weighs in on Crime-Lab Evidence

Posted by: | January 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment

The Supreme Court was not the only court wrestling this week with the admissibility of crime-lab evidence.  A day after the Justices heard oral argument in Briscoe v. Virginia, the Seventh Circuit decided United States v. Turner (No. 08-3109).  Both cases put into question the vitality of Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 129 S. Ct. 2527 (2009). A jury [...]

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Nov

27

Seventh Circuit Criminal Case of the Week: More on Other Bad Acts Evidence

Posted by: | November 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The Seventh Circuit had only one new opinion in a criminal case this week, and it is not one in which the court broke new legal ground.  In United States v. Harris (No. 07-4017) (Williams, J.), the court affirmed the defendant’s convictions for drug trafficking and unlawful gun possession.  The defendant raised various evidentiary objections on [...]

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Nov

9

The Verdict? A Very Successful Civil Trial Conference

Posted by: | November 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment

One of this Law School’s most noteworthy legacies is its production of many of the region’s most outstanding trial lawyers.  The legacy was fully evident on Friday, November 6, 2009 at the Civil Trial Evidence and Litigation Conference.  The sold-out event served as a “last call for Sensenbrenner Hall” of sorts while featuring a panel [...]

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