Articles in the Evidence category - Page 19 of 30

Even the greenest of prosecutors knows to ask it.  And all officers, from rookie to veteran, know how to answer. Rare is the impaired driving case without it. What’s the […]

In this second post on Rule 404(b) evidence [editor’s note: the first post in this occasional series is here], I’ll address a point that sometimes gets overlooked in the admissibility […]

Evidence Rule 404(b) allows for the admission of evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts for purposes other than propensity, such as proving motive, opportunity, intent, preparation or plan. In […]

I’ve previously discussed the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception to the confrontation clause in this blog (here) and in numerous other publications (for example, here). In a nutshell, the forfeiture by […]

The state crime lab and other local laboratories perform nearly 10,000 blood toxicology analyses annually, the vast majority of them in impaired driving cases. Unlike breath analysis results, which the […]

Suppose a child victim of sexual abuse is referred to a psychologist for counseling. In the course of treatment the child reveals details about the abuse. If the child doesn’t […]

I have been asked several times whether the state may admit, under N.C. R. Evid. 404(b), evidence of noncriminal conduct. The answer is yes, assuming of course that the evidence […]

Suppose in a robbery case that the State asks the defendant–who does not plan to testify–to stand in the courtroom wearing a mask allegedly worn by the robber. The defense […]

The recent case, State v. Ryan, presents an issue that keeps our appellate courts busy: the proper scope of expert testimony in child sexual abuse cases. In Ryan, after the […]

In a paper here I analyze Williams v. Illinois, the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest confrontation decision on substitute analyst testimony. Because Williams was a fractured opinion in which no rationale […]