- Home
- Books and Journals
- Carolina Academic Press
- Understanding Evidence (2018)
- Title
- Chapter 1 Overview of Evidence Law
§ 1.02 Proof at Trial
Jurisdiction | United States |
There are some basic issues that any system of proof needs to confront. We, of course, will focus on the adversarial system used in this country.2
[A] Procedural Aspects
Burdens of proof. A fundamental issue involves the allocation of burdens of proof: the burden of persuasion and the burden of production.3 What if the evidence adduced at trial is insufficiently persuasive under some defined standard? Who should lose the case?
Moreover, in defining the burden of persuasion, do we want to favor one party over another by placing a thumb on the scales of justice, so to speak? There are two types of errors that can be made in a criminal case: (1) false positives—convicting the innocent, and (2) false negatives—acquitting the guilty. As a policy matter, we want to avoid the former more than the latter, and thus, we use a high burden of persuasion in criminal cases, i.e., proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The same policy issue is absent in civil litigation. Thus, a preponderance of evidence standard is used because the system is expensive, and we do not want a tie at the end of a one week, one month, or one year trial. Special procedural rules, called presumptions, assist parties in meeting their burdens of proof.4
Order of proof. Trials also need "housekeeping" rules. In offering evidence, who should go first? Who goes second, and does the first party have a right to offer rebuttal evidence? The order of trial is: (1) plaintiff (prosecution) case-in-chief, (2) defense case-in-chief, (3) plaintiff rebuttal, and (4) defense surrebuttal.5 The party with the burden of production goes first because if that party fails to meet that burden, the trial can end with a directed verdict right then. In examining witnesses, the same issues arise: who examines first, second, and should there be any further examination? The answer: (1) direct examination, (2) cross-examination, (3) redirect examination, and (4) recross examination.6
Judge and jury functions. The system also needs to allocate responsibility between the judge and jury.7 The jury decides the "facts," which includes the credibility of witnesses. The judge decides the admissibility of evidence (once an objection is raised) and manages the trial.8
[B] Communicating Information to the Jury
Testimonial proof. In the common law system, proof typically comes in the form of witness testimony. The first issue is who should be considered a competent witness.9 In other words, should a person be kept off the witness stand (disqualified) because that person is too young or suffers from a mental disability. Another issue is the credibility of witnesses, i.e., their worthiness of belief.10 Some witnesses lie, but more often witnesses are inaccurate for other reasons, such as poor eyesight, unconscious bias, or an inadequate opportunity to observe. Efforts to diminish a witness's credibility fall under the rubric of "impeachment." In addition, some rules, such as the firsthand knowledge and hearsay rules, are designed to ensure that the most reliable evidence is presented at trial.
Documentary evidence. In...
To continue reading
Request your trial- Title
- Chapter 1 Overview of Evidence Law
- § 1.01 Introduction
- § 1.02 Proof at Trial
- § 1.03 Law of Evidence
- § 1.04 Federal Rules of Evidence
- § 1.05 State Adoption of the Federal Rules
- § 1.06 Interpreting the Federal Rules: The "Plain Meaning" Doctrine
- § 1.07 Themes in the Federal Rules
- § 1.08 Criminal and Civil Trials
- § 1.09 Bench Trials
- § 1.10 Key Points
Subscribers can access the reported version of this case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a list of all the cited cases and legislation of a document.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a list of all the documents that have cited the case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see the revised versions of legislation with amendments.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see any amendments made to the case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a visualisation of a case and its relationships to other cases. An alternative to lists of cases, the Precedent Map makes it easier to establish which ones may be of most relevance to your research and prioritise further reading. You also get a useful overview of how the case was received.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see the list of results connected to your document through the topics and citations Vincent found.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.