StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Rules of Evidence - Assignment Example

Cite this document
Summary
Rules of evidence are guidelines on how evidence is handled in the justice system, it contains the proper channels as per the law on how to obtain evidence and use it to prosecute criminals. States have different rules of evidence governing their justice systems. In California…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.5% of users find it useful
Rules of Evidence
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Rules of Evidence"

Rules of Evidence Rules of evidence are guidelines on how evidence is handled in the justice system, it contains the proper channels as per the law on how to obtain evidence and use it to prosecute criminals. States have different rules of evidence governing their justice systems. In California for instance the rules of evidence are clearly set and defined. According to Californian law evidence is relevant when ‘when it has any tendency in reason to make the fact that it is offered to prove or disprove either more or less probable’ (DiCarlo 2008).

Evidence is material ‘if it is offered to prove a fact that is at issue in the case.’(DiCarlo 2008) For evidence to be considered admissible it has ‘to show motive, plan, intent, or lack of mistake or, in federal court, to impeach a witnesss credibility (DiCarlo 2008). In the recent case against a man named Duena who is currently facing the death sentence after denied appeals he had been charged with killing police officer 1n 1997 .The evidence presented can be said to be both circumstantial and direct.

Circumstantial evidence needs to be further interfered with so as to connect it to the actual crime. Some of the circumstantial evidence presented in this case is the murder weapon with Duena’s finger prints on it, another circumstantial piece of evidence in this case is the use of computer animation to illustrate that this crime was actually predetermined. It has also been determined that he was at the scene of the crime when the police officer was shot dead (Ansari 2012) According to Californian law substitutions of evidence are the alternatives to normal contemporary evidence provided in court to show prove that a crime was committed.

These are useful to the court when circumstantial and direct evidence are both unavailable. The prosecution or defence is allowed to use substitutions of evidence when presenting factual information that is well known by the general public and can prove their arguments. Another substitute to evidence is when alluding to the testimony of an expected witness. Jury selection is the method of choosing individuals who will serve in a judicial trial. This procedure involves the participation of both the prosecution and the defence and the whole process is overseen by the judge on the particular case.

Suitable group of jury members are presented before the prosecution and the defence in the presence of a judge, these potential jurors are each asked questions related to the case .This ensures there is no bias or personal affiliation with the case at hand. The prosecution and the defence both choose an equal number of jurors each who must be approved by the sitting judge. There are several reasons a prosecutor may legitimately consider when deciding whether or not to charge a defendant and deciding what crimes to charge him with.

The most important consideration is the amount of evidence against and for the defendant; the prosecutor must access the possibility of winning the case by looking at the available evidence. The prosecutor must also take into account the public interest that the case will have; in rare circumstances the prosecutor accesses the profitability of making a deal with a defendant for the purpose of much needed information or assistance in an investigation. Weight of evidence is a comparison between the evidence provided by the prosecution side and that provided by the defence side to see which is more rational, viable and proves probable cause.

In a criminal trial the evidence offered by both sides is analysed carefully and in most cases the side whose evidence has more weight wins the trial. To add weight to evidence one has to present evidence that is difficult and even impossible to disapprove, such evidence has to be backed up with a good argument in court. Circumstantial evidence of guilt is indirect prove that the accused intended to commit the crime or behaved in a manner likely to suggest guilt. It is used in a criminal court to show intent or even to show that a crime was predetermined.

Examples of circumstantial evidence include proving the presence of the accused person at the scene of the crime, when an accused person resists or flees arrest and in some cases previous utterances by the accused person that implicate them in the crime. Circumstantial evidence of guilt is a fair way of proving defendants guilt because it gives the defendant an opportunity to defend all his actions and prove innocence against all reasonable doubt. References.

Daniel Capra, J. (2011). Federal Rules of Evidence. California: West Publishers. Steven Friedland, I. (2010). Evidence Law and Practice: Cases and Materials. United States: LexisNexis.Vincent DiCarlo, (2008). Former Law Office of Vincent DiCarlo. A Summary of the Rules of Evidence: The Essential Tools for Survival in the Courtroom. Retrieved from http://www.dicarlolaw.com/RulesofEvidenceSummary.htm.Maryam Ansari, K. (2012) Find Law for Legal Professionals.

Death Penalty Stands for Lynwood Cop-Killer. Retrieved from http://blogs.findlaw.com/california_case_law/2012/08/death-penalty-stands-for- lynwood-cop-killer.html. Edward Imwinkelried, J & Thomas Leach, J. (2011). California Evidentiary Foundations . Retrieved from https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis. 

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Rules of Evidence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
Rules of Evidence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/law/1607175-rules-of-evidence
(Rules of Evidence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
Rules of Evidence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words. https://studentshare.org/law/1607175-rules-of-evidence.
“Rules of Evidence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/law/1607175-rules-of-evidence.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Rules of Evidence

The Principal Rules of Evidence in Criminal and Civil Trials and Their Legal Basis

The paper "The Principal Rules of Evidence in Criminal and Civil Trials and Their Legal Basis" discusses that there have been massive influences of recent legislation upon the basic principles of Evidence law particularly in the area of human rights and allegations of improperly adduced evidence.... The law of evidence recognises two principal burdens that are the legal and evidential burden.... hellip; A more jurisprudential analysis of the attitude of the courts would suggest the utilitarian approach of the achieving the greater good for the society as put forward by Mc Kee (2000) who believes that the good of the society is based on trial judges or juries returning fair verdicts after looking at all the evidence available....
14 Pages (3500 words) Essay

Impact of the war on terror on Rules of Evidence

The admissibility of evidence causes an additional challenge.... How to defend fundamental liberty in times of national crisis is one of the greatest problems that the political leaders, lawyers and intellectuals are facing today.... William Rehnquist, Supreme Court chief justice, said that the administrative authority to engage in conduct that… The situation created by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, protecting the country from more attacks and dealing with terrorist groups abroad are the main concern of U....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

The Antiquity of the American Concept of Evidence

The 'Rules of Evidence' regulate the types of information witnesses could disclose to the court.... hellip; The author states that even though the Rules of Evidence is deeply rooted in English ancient common law, current historical scholars have discovered that the growth of the firmly exclusionary attributes that distinguish contemporary evidence principle occurred alongside the development in the 18th century of the 'adversary mode of trial'.... The ‘Rules of Evidence' regulate the types of information witnesses could disclose to the court....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Inadmissibility of Character Evidence

The paper presents the main aim of the Federal Rules of Evidence (404), the set of rules that govern the admission of facts in the U.... … The Rules of Evidence are also aimed at eliminating the distrust that may exist amongst jurors while also encouraging the admission of evidence in close cases (Rice & Delker, 2000).... Inadmissibility of Character Evidence The main aim of the Federal Rules of Evidence (404), the set of rules that govern the admission of facts in theU....
1 Pages (250 words) Term Paper

Should the Woman's in-Court Identification Be Allowed as Evidence

The woman who is the key witness in this case after being attacked had seen… If the case was being tried in the United States Courts, the law to be used to prove that the woman's in-court identification of the man who robbed her would be tried under the Federal Rules of Evidence as Criminal eve 7 Affiliation: Should the womans in-court identification be allowed as evidence?... If the case was being tried in the United States Courts, the law to be used to prove that the woman's in-court identification of the man who robbed her would be tried under the Federal Rules of Evidence as provided by the federal government....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Federal Rules of Evidence

 A paper "Federal Rules of Evidence" analyzes Woodard's testimony against Mr.... Moreover, the cruel treatment of the victim at the hands of the defendant could be reliable evidence to portray the accused to have had no other intention other than to kill Ms.... Wallace (2013) explains that circumstantial evidence does not need to prove anything by itself, but has the power to point to the right direction, by proving something related to the question at hand....
4 Pages (1000 words) Article

American Court System U2DB

Federal Rules of Evidence 2010 Statutory Supplement.... Federal Rules of Evidence: Rules of Evidence for the United States courts and magistrates: practice comments.... Texas Rules of Evidence Manual (8th Ed.... There are several purposes one of which is to prove that the character is not affected by the civil or criminal nature of the case, the other is to prove an individual's conduct through circumstantial evidence and lastly is in order to strengthen the credibility of a witness… The character trait of an individual is not admissible if it is trying to prove conformity with the occasion or case (Rothstein, 2000)....
1 Pages (250 words) Research Paper

Americas Courts and the Criminal Justice System

The paper 'America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System' presents criminal Rules of Evidence which refer to the codes and standards that dictate the manner in which courts or judges admit and use facts presented by the parties to a criminal case.... hellip; The foundation of criminal Rules of Evidence is the perceptible mistrust of justice systems, especially judges.... Although initially intended to make criminal justice systems accountable and responsible, criminal Rules of Evidence have rendered the courts, especially the judges rather powerless in admitting evidence and their powers....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us