Admissability of evidence

In DuPont v. Castillo, the Florida District Court of Appeals (Fifth District) said it is the function of the court to not permit cases to be resolved on the basis of evidence for which a predicate of reliability has not been established. Reliability is fundamental to issues involved in the admissibility of evidence... Novel scientific evidence must also be shown to be reliable on some basis other than simply that it is the opinion of the witness who seeks to offer the opinion. Finally, in Slay v. Keller Industries, Inc., No. 1001091, Ala. (2001), the Alabama Supreme Court concluded that mere assertion of belief, without any supporting research, testing, or experiments, cannot qualify as proper scientific testimony under either the general acceptance standard enunciated in Frye or the scientifically reliable standard of Daubert. ... 

Some Frye proponents also contend that admission of evidence or opinions unsupported by the scientific or medical community opens the courtroom door to any expert willing to testify on a party s behalf. Consequently, juries may award large verdicts based on evidence which is fundamentally flawed. These awards, in turn, may lead to an avalanche of litigation and endless, baseless claims . Furthermore, recent problems of availability and affordability of insurance have been attributed to controversial scientific and medical opinions admitted into evidence. 

Historically, physical evidence has taken on increasing importance in criminal matters. Court decisions have consistentiy looked askance at a defendant s admissions of guilt and even question eyewitness testimony. Physical evidence has traditionally been viewed as impartial and unbiased, and not subject to the problems associated with confessions made by an accused or the testimony of witnesses. 

Make sure that all site supervisors, clerks of works and site engineers keep good records, and that they are kept contemporaneously, so that, if necessary, they will be admissible in evidence in the unfortunate event that a dispute arises. 

Figure 22 shows the spectrum in the OH region for zinc oxide after admission of butene-1 at a pressure of about 8 mm (14). Spectrum (a), taken after 8 min exposures, shows two features (1) the strong surface hydroxyl band at 3615 cm-1 is shifted about 5 cm-1 to lower frequencies (2) a new band appears at 3587 cm-1. This new band, clearly an OH, appears to arise from dissociation of the adsorbed butene. Spectrum (b) shows the same region after exposure to the gas phase for 1 hr. It is clear that the OH band formed from butene grows with time detailed studies, however, reveal that there is little change after the first 20 min. Spectrum (c) was taken after 20 min evacuation. Two features are evident (1) in the absence of the gas phase the hydroxyl band of the zinc oxide has shifted back to its previous position (2) the OH band formed from butene is reduced somewhat in intensity. Spectrum (d) was taken after degassing for 90 min ... 

Figure 23a shows the C—H region of the spectrum about 10 min (solid line) and 60 min (dotted line) after admission of 8 mm of butene-1 to a sample of zinc oxide. These spectra, which are primarily due to physically adsorbed and gas-phase butenes, show sizeable changes as a function of time. The region above 3000 cm-1 is particularly clear cut. Initially, a band is observed only at 3082 cm-1 this corresponds closely to the 3086 cm-1 band for gaseous butene-1 (64). After 1 hr the band at 3082 cm-1 is gone and two new bands (above 3000 cm-1) have appeared at 3035 and 3018 cm-1 which correspond within the experimental uncertainty to the expected bonds for cfs-butene (64) (3030 cm-1) and frans-butene (64) (3021 cm-1). Other bands are consistent with these changes. Thus, it is evident that double-bond isomerization has occurred. 

It would be a gigantic task, of course, to produce in open court the hundreds of people who had given us statements. In fact, the drafters of Allied Control Council Law No. 10 had foreseen this dilemma, and had provided that "affidavits" were admissible as evidence. But the American Constitution provided that the accused must be confronted by his accuser. I felt that we must be prepared to produce at least those witnesses whose affidavits were objected to by the defense. That meant we would have to start checking on the availability of witnesses all over Europe. 

Typically, many researchers assume that the active site in heat-treated macrocycles is similar in nature to the original macrocycle, thus the mechanism is thought to be the same. Bouwkamp-Wijnoltz recently presented evidence to back up this assumption.49 With in situ Mossbauer analysis, the researchers showed similar changes occur in the oxidation state of Fe while applying a voltage to a traditional macrocycle cathode and a heat-treated (up to 700 °C) macrocycle cathode. However, by the authors own admission, more evidence is needed to link this redox cycle to the active site. Additionally, in samples treated at higher temperatures the redox cycle was no longer observed. 

If you believe the myth, you are going to work hard to cram your essay full of evidence of all the wonderful things you do. This method won t succeed for two important reasons. First, the myth is just that, a myth. Admissions directors aren t looking for students who can do it all. Second, you have only got about 500 words. You can t possibly write a great personal essay in that space if you load it up with too much content. Think small. Write about something you are truly interested in or passionate about. Resist the temptation to wow them with too much. 

U.S. 157 (1999)), the Supreme Court extended the rules laid down in Daubert for admission of scientific evidence to testimony based on technical and other specialized knowledge such as that of mechanics or economists. The Rumho case ended the practice of some lawyers of putting experts on the stand to testify that the witness wasn t subject to Daubert because the testimony wasn t, strictly, scientific. 

It is doubtful whether the introduction of evidence following the trial is admissible. Nevertheless, the District Court of Stuttgart used exactly this method in order to portray me as untrustworthy. As supposed proof that I had manipulated witnesses, on page 170f. of its decision the court stated ... 

Hall and Cassel describe a complete, commercially available experimental system for detailed studies of the thermal history and other characteristics of fibers, a common form of evidence material. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has developed a large library of inks of known manufacture dates and reports excellent cooperation from industry in its tagging project (Brunelle and Cantu). Again, the application of a well established technique (in this case thin-layer chromatography, which is sensitive enough to allow concurrent handwriting and other supportive analysis) proves its value not only operationally but also from the viewpoint of legal admissibility (Brunelle and Cantu). 

Until recently, the standard of admissibility of scientific evidence into American courts was based on a decision put forth in 1923 in U.S. v Frye which required that a scientific principle or discovery, the technique used for applying the scientific principle, and the specific application on which the expert testimony is to be based... 

What we now require is an empirically verifiable experimental confirmation of the idea of a modular wave-hierarchy in time, or of the importance of nucleic acid ESR for consciousness. The quest for such experiments may prove elusive for the following reason The dependence of scientific methodology upon inductive thought has caused it to construct its rules of admissible evidence against the admission of phenomena that cannot be repeatedly triggered by experimental means. Against this point of view. 

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