The Rules of Evidence

The Rules of Evidence:

In today’s society there are rules that define evidence pertaining to a defendant’s trial. These rules are defined as the “The Rules of Evidence” or “The Law of Evidence.” These rules create a safe and orderly environment, promote efficiency, and enhance the quality of evidence that pertain to all criminal trials. These rules restrict what a jury can and cannot hear or see, details of the law, and the importance of the effective performance of the law enforcement officer. Americans are well aware of the rules that govern evidence; but what are they, what do they mean, how do they apply to each case, and how are they broken down.

The rules of evidence are prescribed by Congress and can be found in Title 28 of the U.S. Code Annotated (Scheb J. M.). Judges and juries are governed by the law of evidence; they also evaluate the many different forms of evidence at a trial. This evidence in many ways is an extension of a criminal or a civil proceeding. Evidence law establishes limitations that are enforced in court against attorneys, and attempts to control the events a trial procedure presents. Federal courts follow the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) which began in 1942; whereas state courts follow their own set of rules. State rules are imposed by a group of diverse state legislatures. The FRE is the most significant body of American evidence law. The majority of evidential laws are encompassed into 68 brief but complex sections. The FRE is considered to be an extremely significant factor in the development of the U.S. evidence laws.

Before 1975, U.S. evidence laws were based on the common law practice. The FRE was drafted in 1942 and proposed by a committee made up of practitioners, judges, and law profes...

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... as long as the chain of custody is maintained.

In summation, there is no real way to dismiss the utilization of certain rules to protect and or eliminate evidence. The defendant must preserve his or her constitutional rights. The prosecution and investigators must also be accountable to these rights to ensure that the judicial system in this nation does not become a mêlée of wrongful or unfair convictions, which may be motivated by speed and necessity, rather than good experienced police and legal work. It is also important to note that many legal violations of the disclosure laws and events that would obtain the use of the exclusionary rule have ended in false convictions, giving further proof to the efficacy of the law. The rules for presenting evidence are designed to help the court and jury establish truth and administer justice (Paul B. Watson, 1986).