As I mentioned in my February 17, 2013 post about Tennessee personal injury and wrongful death court filings, the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Court has released statistics about the Tennessee’s justice system. Among the data produced is information about the number of personal injury and wrongful death jury…
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that functional magnetic resonance imaging cannot be used in a criminal case to prove that the defendant’s denials of wrongdoing were true. Defendant wanted to introduce evidence of the fMRI to prove that he was telling the truth in his criminal trial…
The Federal Evidence Review Blog has been kind enough to let us know that the federal Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management ("CACM") has issued new proposed jury instructions on the use of social media by jurors. "The overwhelming majority of judges take steps to warn jurors not to…
The Winter 2012 edition of the FDCC Quarterly includes an article called "Juror Misconduct in the Age of Social Networking." Written by Michael K. Kiernan and Samuel E. Cooley, the article discusses how a juror’s use of social networking tools "can result in a denial of the defendant’s due process rights…
It is not uncommon for defendants in severe brain injury, spinal cord or burn injury cases to ask that the plaintiff not be present in the courtroom. The argument goes that the injured person cannot contribute to the prosecution of the case and therefore the only purpose that they are…
A federal court of appeals has ruled that a court may take judicial notice of a Google map image. In United States v. Perea-Rey, No. 10-50632 (9th Cir. May 31, 2012), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that We take judicial notice of a Google map and…
Those in positions of power and wealth fear one thing more than parting with their precious money: they fear that someone will find out what they did. Thus, we see repeated requests of courts to hide the the conduct of wrongdoers. Early in a case, these efforts manifests themselves in…
The Utah Supreme Court has called-out a lawyer who repeatedly violated court orderson a several motions in limine. In Barrientos v. Jones, 2012 UT 33 (June 8, 2012), the trial court granted several motions in limine and held that certain alleged conduct or speculation about the conduct of the decedent…
The $900,000 pain and suffering verdict (which equaled the amount sued for) in a case brought by a woman who contracted herpes after consensual sex with a dentist brings to mind one of best legal articles I ever read about obtaining large verdicts. First, the facts. According to an article…
The Cross-Examination Blog is a good blog to add to your reading list. Written by Ronald H. Clark, the blog is filled within helpful information for personal injury and wrongful death lawyers. The following is from a recent post titled "Truisms in Cross-Examination:" David Paul Jones’s Rules of Cross-Examination (Jones…