Let the record show: modifying appellate review procedures for errors of prejudicial nonverbal communication by trial judges
Article Abstract:
Nonverbal communication by judges in jury trials can have a prejudicial effect on the case, and appellate procedures should allow defendants to establish a record of such conduct for the trial record. Appellate review of such conduct is difficult because nonverbal communication is not captured in the transcripts that appellate courts are limited to. Attorneys may be hesitant to verbalize such gestures at the time they are made for fear of inviting further prejudice. Parties adversely affected should be allowed to raise the issue when making new trial motions to place description of the actions in the record.
Publication Name: Columbia Law Review
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0010-1958
Year: 1995
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Unreliable and prejudicial: the use of extraneous unadjudicated offenses in the penalty phases of capital trials
Article Abstract:
A uniform ban on the admission of prior bad acts evidence in the penalty phase of capital trials is necessary to protect defendants against being unfairly convicted based on alleged, but unproved, crimes. Such a ban would remedy conflicting evidentiary standards enunciated by the US Supreme Court, which has sanctioned the admission of all relevant evidence to prove aggravating circumstances but has also prohibited the presentation of unduly prejudicial or unreliable evidence. It would also resolve the disparate standards that have developed amongst the federal circuits and state courts.
Publication Name: Columbia Law Review
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0010-1958
Year: 1993
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Character evidence and the object of trial
Article Abstract:
The purpose of trial has usually been seen as an effort to prove the truth of an alleged indicent. If the purpose of trial is instead looked at as an attempt to provide incentives for furture behavior, the rules governing the use of character evidence can be more easily understood.
Publication Name: Columbia Law Review
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0010-1958
Year: 2001
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