Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1989

Abstract

Proposed far-reaching changes in the Federal Rules of Evidence are of major practical significance to every lawyer involved in the criminal justice process. The proposed changes are contained in a recent report by the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section's Rules of Criminal Procedure and Evidence Committee. The report was selected for publication in Federal Rules Decisions, 120 F.R.D. 299 (1988), because of its interest to federal practitioners and judges. More than 40 judges, lawyers, and scholars were involved in the four-year study, and experts on each particular rule acted as "reporters" to the committee on those areas.

The report rewrites the rules on such important matters as prior convictions to impeach criminal defendants, expert testimony, character evidence, shielding rape victims, presumptions, child witnesses in violence and sex abuse cases, jurors impugning their own verdicts, competency, judicial notice, judicial comment, and admissibility of pleas, plea discussions, and related statements.

Publication Citation

Crim. Just., Summer 1989, at 20-23, 44-46.

Download

Share

COinS