Introduction

 Something that proves or disproves allegations and assertions.
 In the legal sense, includes only what is
“introduced” at trial.

 Testimony of Witnesses
 Documents
 Physical Objects
 Marketing Statistics
 Exams
 Experiments
 Video (In matters of fidelity)

 Why do police gather evidence?

What kinds of things can be used as evidence ?

In The Video, What Could be Used as Evidence?

 Burden of Proof – To produce credible evidence to prove the element of each crime charged.
 Why is considered credible evidence???
 The smoking gun…….
 The bloody knife…….
 ?????

 What is beyond a reasonable doubt?
 Proof that leaves you firmly convinced

 In a criminal case it is the standard used in which a defendant is convicted.
Who’s responsibility is it to establish beyond a reasonable doubt?
 Why?

What Burden does the Defense
Has?
 Does the Defense have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt? No…..except


Affirmative Defenses
 Self-Defense
 Duress
 Intoxication
 Entrapment
 Insanity
The Defense must “introduce" evidence.

 The defense can try to persuade a jury that the prosecution has not established the defendant’s guilt.
 “If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit”

 Trier of the law
 Judge (referee) – decides what is evidence admissible (testimony, photos, etc.)
 Rules on questioning of witnesses

Objection “sustained” or overruled”
 Uses prior case rulings
 Judicial Discretion

 A jury is a body of persons convened to render a verdict (finding of fact) on a legal question officially submitted to them, or to set a penalty or judgment in a jury trial of a court of law

 Trier of Facts
 The credibility of the witnesses
 The weight to be given to the testimony of each witness
 How the facts manage the definition of the crime
 If the prosecution has established the case beyond a reasonable doubt
 Has anyone in the class served on a jury?

 The rules of evidence were designed to control the judge and jury
 In the Middle Ages such abuses as:
 Star Chamber, Inquisition forcing the suspects to confess
 Torture chambers were designed to force confessions

 Greek
 First to rely on the community to pass judgement on a variety of cases.
 Initially, the entire population was required to serve.
 Eventually, jurors were drawn from a cross section of the community. (dicastery)

 Roman
 Relied on an early form of the jury system.
 Juries consisted of 35 – 75 members.
 Common law juries had the function of investigating crimes as well as conducting trials of the accused.

 Each state has its separate rules
 Each state enacts its own laws and rules of evidence
 Exception:
 Cases involving or under the control of the
U.S. Constitution

 U.S. Constitution
 U.S. Supreme Court
 Federal Courts
 Federal Rules of Evidence
 State Rules of Evidence
 State Case Law

U.S. Constitution
 The Constitution has little bearing on evidence
 If there is a violation in the defendant’s constitutional rights can evidence obtained be used?
 The most significant Amendment that will impact this course is which?

 The final arbiter of the meaning of the U.S.
Constitution
 Very selective in the cases they hear
 The court supervises the federal court system.

Federal Courts
 U.S. Court of Appeals (13)
 Hear cases involving violations of federal statutes
 Will hear final appeals prior to a death sentence

Federal Rules of Evidence
 Laws governing the admission of evidence
 Enacted by Congress
 Comprehensive set of rules designed to work together as whole.

State Rules of Evidence
 Each state can enact their own evidence
 Many states follow the FRE
 Arizona & California combined their state rules with the federal rules

State Case Law
 When they are not state laws present, the laws of other states (not binding) may influence a judge in a ruling.

If argued persuasively, it can “informally” affect the outcome of a case.

 U.S. Supreme Court interprets the
Constitution
 These rulings apply to the entire country
 Miranda, Roe v. Wade
 State courts can also rule that a state law violates the U.S. Constitution
 This ruling stands until the SCOTUS rules otherwise.


Stare Decisis aka “Case Law”
 Prior decisions of appellate courts are considered binding on lower courts until:
 Reversed
 Vacated
 Overruled

 Issues regarding evidence must be raised in trial court in order to preserve them for appeal

What is a case “on all fours?”

 If an appellate court finds that a trial judge made an error, the “Harmless Error
Rule”
 Under the following conditions:
 An error will not cause the case to be reversed on appeal unless the appellate court believes the error was likely to affect the outcome of the case.

 Law Library

CD’s
 Internet
 findlaw.com
 usscplus.com
 courtinfo.ca.gov

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Define the term evidence. Give Examples
Explain the term burden of proof.
What is the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in determining the rules of evidence for Federal courts and for state courts?
Define what is meant by beyond a reasonable doubt.

 In a criminal trial, who is the trier of the law, who is the trier of the facts, and what are their respective roles?
 List three sources of law that governs evidence.
 explain how to find the opinion of the U.S. supreme court in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 20
L.Ed. 2d 889, 88 S.Ct. 1868 (1968).
 Explain the Harmless Error rule.