Excited Utterance

Rape Shield Evidence and the Hierarchy of Impeachment. Rosanna Cavallaro from Suffolk University discusses how current Rape Shield jurisprudence inappropriately preferences certain types of impeachment over others.

Eyewitness Identifications and the Problematics of Blackstonian Reform of the Criminal Law. Larry Rosenthal from Chapman University challenges the idea of using prophylactic rules to prevent the admission of potentially unreliable eyewitness identification evidence.

Blind Testing: Lessons from Houston. Nicole Casarez from the University of St. Thomas describes the experience of the Houston Forensic Science Center in implementing blinding testing, and what its success might mean for the broader forensics community.

How Evidence of Subsequent Remedial Measures Matters. Bernard Chao looks into Rule 407’s bar on subsequent remedial measures (SRMs). What does evidence of SRMs do to a defendant’s case, and are jury instructions limiting the use of SRMs effective at stemming their prejudicial effects?

Brain-Based Memory Detection. Emily Murphy from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law discusses whether technologies for detecting brain activity can actually help verify witness memories and what implications these technologies might have for the law.

Naked Statistical Evidence and the Futility of Lawful Conduct. Christian Dahlman from Lund University in Sweden (with guest host Alex Nunn) offers an explanation of the so-called proof paradoxes based on incentives and causal direction.

Towards a Continuous Burden of Proof. Mark Spottswood considers replacing our traditional, dichotomous burden of proof based on thresholds with a continuous one that would award greater damages with greater factfinder certainty.

Going Ballistic. Binyamin Blum from the University of California at Hastings discusses the origins of ballistics identification under British colonialism in Egypt during the 1920s.

Experts in the Jury Room. Kristin Liska (Stanford) considers how the legal system should handle expert jurors who introduce untested specialized knowledge into the deliberation room.

Brain-Computer Interfaces and the Law. Jessica Haushalter (Vanderbilt) discusses her student note on brain scanning technology and the challenges it faces in the courtroom.