Excited Utterance

The Authentication Illusion. Justin Sevier from Florida State University discusses new psychological research investigating whether legal actors are up to the task of authentication in an era of deepfake images, audio, video, and documents.

Testimonial Gossip. Erin Sheley from the University of San Diego argues that under the Supreme Court's decision in Smith v. Arizona, offering reputational character evidence against the accused in criminal cases may violate the Confrontation Clause.

Trial by Character. Hillel Bavli from Southern Methodist University discusses how some courts misinterpret the "other purposes" discussed in Rule 404(b)(2) as true exceptions, causing an erosion of the well-accepted rule against character or propensity evidence.

The Multidimensions of AI Chatbots as Evidence. Laura Ginsberg Abelson from Southern Methodist University discusses how AI chatbot conversations are increasingly finding their way into court, and why some of those conversations may be deserving of evidentiary protection.

The Accused Speaks. Laurent Sacharoff from Hofstra University uncovers the original meaning of the "right to be heard," a historical constitutional right to give unsworn statements not subject to cross-examination originally granted to criminal defendants in 37 state constitutions.

The Overlooked Witness Memory Risk. Sue Provenzano from Georgia State University and Sarah Brown-Schmidt from Vanderbilt University discuss the problem of “hear-witnesses,” witnesses who report about what was previously said, and how evidence law does not adequately account for their accuracy risks.

Opinion Surveys Across the Civil-Criminal Divide. Kay Levine from Emory University discusses the uses of opinion survey evidence, how its admissibility is inconsistent between civil and criminal contexts, and perhaps why the divide exists.

AI-Enhanced Evidence Law. Mary Fan from the University of Washington discusses the challenges of AI-enhanced evidence in the courtroom, how to ensure its reliability, and concerns about disparities between prosecution-offered and defense-offered AI-enhanced evidence.

Law Enforcement Privilege. Rebecca Wexler from Columbia Law School discusses the privilege governing police investigative methods, the reasons for the privilege, as well as its costs to transparency and the ability to regulate police conduct in accord with the Fourth Amendment.

Strategy for Strategy's Sake. Edith Beerdsen from Temple University asks whether strategic or "sporting" behavior has any place in a system of legal proof, and when being clever goes too far.