Section on EvidenceMarina Salon D, South Tower/Level 3, San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina
Evidentiary Foul Play: Deception, Destruction, and Just Desserts
(Program to be published in Commentaries on Evidence)
Judges and practitioners report that evidentiary foul play is commonplace. Documents that should be produced in response to a discovery request are regularly shredded, altered, or suppressed. Witnesses frequently lie to investigators, deposers, and courts. Fact finders are routinely misled by the fabrication and destruction of evidence.
Explicit academic analysis of evidentiary misbehavior, however is relatively uncommon. Such considerations often do play a background role in the analysis of well-studied rules, such as those concerning hearsay, the Confrontation right, and the privilege against self-incrimination. But the need remains for a well developed and well connected literature that directly and comprehensively treats the delineation, discouragement, and punishment of evidentiary misdeeds.
This program is an attempt to aid in the development of such a literature. Papers will touch on a diverse array of topics, but all will be centered on the question: How and to what extent should the law discourage and punish evidentiary foul play?
Business Meeting at Program Conclusion.
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