All Mixed up About Mixed Questions
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Brief Amicus Curiae of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York and the National District Attorneys Association in Support of Respondent
No. 20-637 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States DARRELL HEMPHILL, Petitioner, v. NEW YORK, Respondent. ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF NEW YORK BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK AND THE NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENT J. ANTHONY JORDAN CYRUS R. VANCE, JR. President District Attorney DISTRicT ATTORNEYS ASSOciATION New York County OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK HILARY HASSLER Three Columbia Place Chief of Appeals Albany, New York 12210 DAvid M. COHN* (518) 598-8968 DIANA WANG Counsel for Amicus Curiae Assistant District Attorneys District Attorneys One Hogan Place Association of the State New York, NY 10013 of New York (212) 335-4098 [email protected] Counsel for Amici Curiae (For Continuation of Appearances See Inside Cover) * Counsel of Record 306644 BILLY WEST President NATIONAL DISTRicT ATTORNEYS ASSOciATION 1400 Crystal Drive, Suite 330 Arlington, VA 22202 (703) 549-9222 Counsel for Amicus Curiae National District Attorneys Association TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF CITED AUTHORITIES .......................... ii Interest of the Amici Curiae .......................................1 Summary of Argument ...............................................2 Argument .....................................................................3 A. As courts have long recognized, a party may, through its litigation strategy, lose the right to assert a legal claim .......................................3 B. New York’s “opening the door” rule promotes fair -
The Analysis and Decision of Summary Judgment Motions· a Monograph on Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. The Analysis and Decision of Summary Judgment Motions· A Monograph on Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure \f1 (»" It Judicial Center ~ ~ The Federal Judicial Center Board The Chief Justice of the United States, Chairman Judge Edward R. Becker U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Judge Martin L. C. Feldman U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Judge Diana E. Murphy U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota Judge David D. Dowd, Jr. U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Judge Sidney B. Brooks U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado Honorable 1. Ralph Mecham Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Director Judge William W Schwarzer Deputy Director Russell R. Wheeler Division Directors Steven A. Wolvek, Court Education Division Denis J. Hauptly, Judicial Education Division Sylvan A. Sobel, Publications & Media Division William B. Eldridge, Research Division Federal Judicial Center, 1520 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20005 1 ~•. ~ .. ~:' i ' NCJRS· MAR 4 199? ACQUISITIONS The Analysis and Decision of Summary Judgment Motions A Monograph on Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure William W Schwarzer Alan Hirsch David J. Barrans Federal Judicial Center 1991 This publication was produced in furtherance of the Center's statutory mis sion to conduct and stimulate research and development on matters of judi cial administration. The statements, conclusions, and points of view are those of the authors. -
Glossary of Legal Terms
GLOSSARY OF LEGAL TERMS This glossary defines a number of terms in common legal use. Many books on the law for non-lawyers contain glossaries. Check your library or bookstore. See especially, Lile Denniston’s The Reporter and the Law (New York: Hastings House, 1980), Barron’s Dictionary of Legal Terms (New York: Barron’s Educational Series, 1998) and Black’s Law Dictionary (West Publishing Company, Minneapolis). acquittal A finding of “not guilty,” certifying the innocence of a person charged with a crime. adversary system The trial methods used in the U.S. and some other countries, based on the belief that the trust can best be determined by giving opposing parties full opportunity to present and establish their evidence, and to test by cross-examination the evidence presented by their adversaries, under established rules of procedure before an impartial judge and/or jury. alternative dispute resolution Processes that people can use to help resolve conflicts rather than going to court. Common ADR methods include mediation, arbitration and negotiation. Amicus curiae A friend of the court; one not a party to the case who volunteers to offer information on a point of law or some other aspect of the case to assist the court in deciding a matter before it. appeal A request by the losing party in a lawsuit that the judgment be reviewed by a higher court. appellant The party who initiates an appeal. Sometimes called a petitioner. appellate court A court having jurisdiction to hear appeals and review a trial court’s decision. appellee The party against whom an appeal is taken, sometimes called a respondent. -
Theorizing Legal Needs: Towards a Caring Legal System
Theorizing Legal Needs: Towards a Caring Legal System Benjamin Miller A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the MA degree in Political Science School of Political Studies Faculty of Social Sciences University of Ottawa Ottawa, Canada 2016 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents Abstract...................................................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 7 The Ethics of Care: An Introduction ........................................................................................ 8 Plan of the Work ....................................................................................................................11 Method & Conceptual Framework .........................................................................................12 Practical Value ......................................................................................................................15 Prima Facie Issues ................................................................................................................15 Chapter 1: Legal Needs ............................................................................................................18 -
Jury Misconduct in Texas: Trying the Trier of Fact
SMU Law Review Volume 34 Issue 5 Article 3 1980 Jury Misconduct in Texas: Trying the Trier of Fact David E. Keltner Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr Recommended Citation David E. Keltner, Jury Misconduct in Texas: Trying the Trier of Fact, 34 SW L.J. 1131 (1980) https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr/vol34/iss5/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in SMU Law Review by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. JURY MISCONDUCT IN TEXAS: TRYING THE TRIER OF FACT by David E.Kellner* T HE problem of jury misconduct has plagued attorneys since the adoption of the Magna Carta. Since that time practitioners, concerned that verdicts be reached fairly, have attacked the outcomes of jury trials on the grounds that the jurors violated their oaths and instructions. In ad- dressing jury misconduct, courts have been caught between two conflicting policies. First, courts recognize that every litigant is entitled to a fair trial, free from preconceived prejudices and outside influence. A juror's mis- conduct can and often does deny this right. On the other hand, the jury's verdict should be certain and final. A subsequent review of the jury's de- liberations results in a trial on a trial. In their struggle to choose between these two policies, Texas courts have created a body of law with peculiar rules, practices, and presumptions governing jury misconduct cases that affect every attorney engaged in litigation. -
The Court System
The Court System he United States has many court systems. Each state has its own T court system, and there is also a system of federal courts. Each of these systems has trial and appeals courts. There are also a number of tribal justice systems. The highest court in the land "Three features mark is the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme the Anglo-American Court hears appeals from the other court systems. system as different from all others. One is the extent to which our law is formed in Trial Courts litigation. Another feature is the Trial courts listen to testimony, consider evidence, way we conduct these cases: we and decide the facts in disputed situations. Evidence is pit antagonists against each other, provided by witnesses who are called to testify in the to cast up from their struggles the case. In a trial there are two parties, or sides, to each material of decisions. A third- and case. In a civil trial, the party bringing the legal action is largest in the public conscious called the plaintiff. In a criminal trial, the government ness-is the trial by jury." (state or federal) initiates the case and serves as the prosecutor. In both civil and criminal trials, the party - Charles Rembar, responding to the plaintiff (civil) or prosecution (criminal) is The Law ofthe Land called the defendant. Once a trial court has made a decision, the losing party may be able to appeal the decision to an appel late, or appeals, court. Street Law The use of juries builds on line the values of democracy Visit the Street Law Web into the court system. -
Michigan-Tort.Pdf
Michigan Prepared by Cardelli Lanfear P.C. 322 West Lincoln Royal Oak, MI 48067 Tel: 248.850.2179 Fax: 248.544.1191 1. Introduction – History of Tort Reform in Michigan Michigan was one of the first states in the country to pass tort reform legislation when it passed the Medical Malpractice Arbitration Act in 1975. While this Act was repealed by subsequent tort reform legislation, Michigan continues to be in the forefront of the tort reform movement. The Michigan Legislature has enacted three sets of Tort Reform legislation. The first reform took effect in 1986. These reforms modified venue, imposed stringent criteria for medical expert witnesses in medical malpractice actions, and addressed joint and several liability concerns. These reforms did not address all of the concerns of the Michigan Legislature and, as a result, two more tort reform legislations were passed. The 1993 tort reform legislation applied only to the area of medical malpractice and affected cases filed after April 1, 1994. The 1993 legislation placed a limit on non-economic damages, reduced the applicable statute of limitations for minors, stiffened the requirements of the affidavit of merit, and required all plaintiffs to file notice of their intent to file a lawsuit not less than 182 days before a complaint is filed. The 1995 tort reform package overhauled Michigan’s tort system. As discussed more thoroughly below, the Legislature enacted laws that abolished joint and several liability, imposed caps on non-economic damages, changed the standard for product liability cases, modified venue provisions, heightened the standard for expert witnesses and altered Michigan’s No Fault Act. -
Truth and the Law: a Critical View of Community
TRUTH AND THE LAW: A CRITICAL VIEW OF COMMUNITY Jan G. Deutsch * I Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was masterful both as a judge and as a phrasemaker. The study of law inevitably includes acquaintance with his description of the common law: "The life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience." 1 A typical Holmes phrase, the description is striking, clear, memorable-and incapable of with- standing rigorous scrutiny. Logic may not be all there is to law, but clearly logic is necessary to law. The justification for legal coercion is the proposition that like cases should be decided alike, and without logic we have no assurance that we can construct valid categories in terms of which to define like cases. How, then, can one understand what Holmes has written? Holmes was wounded in a war which was fought to gain freedom for slaves, and which produced the political excesses of Reconstruc- tion and the economic excesses of rapid industrialization. Experience taught Holmes to live with conflict and paradox, to accept the propo- sition that logic provides no easy answers to important questions. Ex- perience sounds more flexible and organic than logic, but as a guide to the correct decision, it fares no better. "'[Brandeis],'" said Holmes, "'always desires to know all that can be known about a case whereas I am afraid that I wish to know as little as I can safely go on.' "2 Holmes was certain that facts alone- the talisman which justified Brandeis's infatuation with the collection of statistics-would provide no basis on which to determine how little a judge "can safely go on." This divergence, on its face, is about tech- niques of judging. -
ISBA Advisory Opinion on Professional Conduct
ISBA Advisory Opinion on Professional Conduct ISBA Advisory Opinions on Professional Conduct are prepared as an educational service to members of the ISBA. While the Opinions express the ISBA interpretation of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct and other relevant materials in response to a specific hypothesized fact situation, they do not have the weight of law and should not be relied upon as a substitute for individual legal advice. Opinion No. 11-06 March, 2011 Subject: Lawyer as Witness Digest: A lawyer who is disqualified by reason of his or her likely being called as a necessary witness may continue the representation until commencement of trial. References: Illinois Rule of Professional Conduct 3.7 Weil, Freiburg and Thomas, P.C. v. Sara Lee Corp., 218 Ill.App.3d 383, 160 Ill.Dec. 773 (1st Dist. 1991) Jones v. City of Chicago, 610 F.Supp. 350 (N.D. Ill. 1984) Culebras Enterprises Corporation v. Rivera-Rios, 846 F.2d 94 (1st Cir. 1988) Mercury Vapor Processing Techs., Inc. v. Village of Riverdale, 545 F.Supp.2d 783 (N.D. Ill. 2008) The Law Governing Lawyers, Restatement of the Law Third, Sec. 108, comment (c) FACTS Litigation has been initiated to contest a will and an associated trust. The attorney representing the trustee under the will is likely to be called as a witness by the adverse party. The trustee’s attorney intends on turning the case over to trial counsel at the time the case proceeds to trial. QUESTIONS 1. Can the trustee’s attorney serve as trial counsel until the commencement of trial? 2. -
Police Expert Witnesses and the Ultimate Issue Rule Gail Sweeney Stephenson
Louisiana Law Review Volume 44 | Number 1 September 1983 Police Expert Witnesses and the Ultimate Issue Rule Gail Sweeney Stephenson Repository Citation Gail Sweeney Stephenson, Police Expert Witnesses and the Ultimate Issue Rule, 44 La. L. Rev. (1983) Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol44/iss1/9 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Louisiana Law Review by an authorized editor of LSU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NOTE POLICE EXPERT WITNESSES AND THE ULTIMATE ISSUE RULE The defendant was convicted of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. The arresting officers testified that when they approached the defendant, he fled after discarding a bag which con- tained ten coin envelopes of marijuana, a plastic bag of marijuana, and a loaded pistol. The officers further testified that the defendant was apprehended almost immediately and $359 in cash was found in his pockets. A police officer was then qualified by the court as an expert in narcotics transactions. The prosecutor posed a hypothetical question to this expert which incorporated all of the facts to which the arresting officer had testified. Over the defendant's objection, the expert was allowed to testify that, in his opinion, an individual with ten coin envelopes of marijuana, a plastic bag of marijuana, $359 in cash, and a handgun was involved in the distribution of marijuana. The expert also was permitted to testify that it was common for a distributor to carry a revolver and that "[tihe reason the subject had the revolver was to keep from being ripped off, due to the location and amount of money and what he was selling."' The Louisiana Supreme Court held that admission of the expert's response to the hypothetical question and his statement of the purpose for which the defendant carried the handgun was reversible error. -
Mixed Questions of Law and Fact and the Administrative Procedure Act
Fordham Law Review Volume 19 Issue 1 Article 3 1950 Mixed Questions of Law and Fact and the Administrative Procedure Act Bernard Schwartz Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Bernard Schwartz, Mixed Questions of Law and Fact and the Administrative Procedure Act, 19 Fordham L. Rev. 73 (1950). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol19/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Law Review by an authorized editor of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MIXED QUESTIONS OF LAW AND FACT AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT BERNARD SCHWARTZt J UDICIAL review of administrative action is based upon the distinction between "law" and "fact". Questions of law are to be decided ju- dicially, for the judge, both by training and tradition, is best equipped to deal with them. "Our desire to have courts determine questions of law is related to a belief in their possession of expertness with regard to such questions."' These considerations do not apply with equal force to the judicial review of the factual issues arising out of administrative deter- minations. There, the advantages of expertise are with the administrator. The fact "findings of an expert commission have a validity to which no judicial examination can pretend; the decision, for instance, of the New York Public Service Commission that a gas company ought to provide gas service for a given district is almost inevitably more right than a decision pronounced by the Courts in a similar case." 2 A theory of review based upon the "law-fact" distinction assumes that there is a more or less clear-cut division between "law' and "fact", with the former for the judge and the latter for the administrator. -
19 No Right Answer?
JOBNAME: Jackson PAGE: 1 SESS: 37 OUTPUT: Thu Sep 4 12:06:29 2008 19 No Right Answer? JAMES Q WHITMAN I. INTRODUCTION HE TITLE OF this essay is, of course, lifted from one of the most famous articles in the literature of Anglo-American legal philoso- Tphy.1 As we all know, Ronald Dworkin argued, in his 1977 article ‘No Right Answer?’, that there must indeed always be a right answer to any given question of law, despite the many seemingly intractable disagree- ments we discover among lawyers and judges. Dworkin’s claims have drawn numerous responses, and the ‘no right answer?’ debate has assumed a central place in the literature of legal philosophy.2 Why do I begin an essay celebrating Mirjan Damaška’s work in comparative law by invoking a debate among the legal philosophers? Because one of Damaška’s many striking contributions is his own analysis of the ‘no right answer’ problem. Indeed, Damaška has devoted much of his scholarly career to the question of whether legal systems must inevita- bly be committed to seeking the right answer, starting with his first major article in the pages of an American law review. ‘The Continental,’ Damaška argued in 1968, will seek the right solution; his [American] counterpart will display a liberal agnosticism about “right” answers, coupled with a procedural outlook. Instead of seeking the right answer, the American lawyer ‘will be primarily concerned about good arguments for a case.’3 In intriguing contrast to Dworkin, Damaška thus argued in 1968 that American law was excep- tional among leading western systems in its reluctance to ‘seek’ right answers.