NCJ Number
107939
Date Published
1987
Length
504 pages
Annotation
This course study guide is designed to enable military attorneys to provide professionally competent legal services in substantive and procedural evidentiary matters.
Abstract
Emphasis is on the development of two basic legal skills: accurate identification of the issues in a given factual situation, and correct application of principles of military rules of evidence. Sources of military laws of evidence, types and forms of evidence, and evidence admissibility are reviewed. Pretrial investigation, methods of discovery, and depositions are discussed. An overview of the military rules of evidence covers history, purpose, scope and applicability, and rulings on evidence. Substitutes for evidence (e.g., stipulations, presumptions, and inferences) also are covered. Relevancy of evidence is considered, including character evidence and that relating to sexual conduct in rape cases. Witness competence, credibility, exclusion, examination, and cross-examination are then examined. Issues relating to hearsay, documentary evidence, and physical evidence are addressed; admissions, confessions, and self-incrimination are discussed. Case law on search and seizure and related issues is reviewed, and the rights of the accused are delineated. Finally, guidelines for opening statements and arguments are provided.