Criminal Evidence – 6

Each adversary in a criminal case seeks to present the facts that are most advantageous to its position. The parties often battle over what is relevant, reliable, and competent evidence.

For this assignment, provide definitions for these three qualities of evidence.

Additionally, find a criminal court case that contains an example of relevant, reliable or competent evidence.  You can use findlaw.com or other search engines to locate a useful case.  What are the basic facts of the case?  What is the evidence that is relevant, reliable or competent?  Explain your answers using the court’s opinion or your own analysis.

This individual work to be completed is an in-depth essay of 1-2 pages, free of spelling and grammar errors.

Your essay should include:

  • The rationale used to address the question/issue posted
  • A well-justified argument regarding this issue

Your response must:

  • Be thought provoking
  • Have well developed ideas and/or opinions
  • Reference any material from the text, lecture, or other sources used to complete the assignment

You may use your text or the Internet as a reference, but remember to cite your sources according to APA guidelines.

Cases must be written appellate of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, which can be found using Online Resources, http://www.findlaw.com/ (see Appendix B in textbook), http://www.oyez.org/, etc.