EvidenceProf Blog

Editor: Colin Miller
Univ. of South Carolina School of Law

Friday, July 31, 2020

New Evidence Rules for University Title IX Hearings

Greetings from a long-absent contributor to this blog. My name is Ben Trachtenberg, and I teach Evidence at the University of Missouri. Because my recent scholarship has concerned education law, I have not posted here in some time.

Now, however, my interest in higher education law has brought me back to my evidence roots, and I have a new article that discusses the new rules of evidence that colleges and universities must use in Title IX hearings. These rules are included in revised regulations (effective August 2020) from the U.S. Department of Education. Under these rules, hearing officers at campus tribunals must rule on issues of relevance, application of the rape shield, and legal privileges. Institutions are required to ensure that their hearing officers are trained in this law.

In my new article, "Hiring and Training Competent Title IX Hearing Officers," I suggest how campus leaders can obey these new requirements. My main suggestion is that institutions should use external hearing officers, instead of asking faculty and staff with no legal training to become knowledgeable about complex evidence rules. In addition, I propose that institutions separate the role of hearing officer (i.e., judge) from that of the decision-makers (i.e., jurors) who determine the ultimate result. This would allow external experts to run the hearing while retaining internal authority over decisions.

I'd welcome any feedback on the article. The pre-publication draft is online now. The paper version will appear in the Missouri Law Review in winter 2020-2021.

In a subsequent post, I will dig into some of the new evidence rules that colleges and universities must use in their Title IX hearings.

July 31, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Undisclosed Mega-Update Thread 4

On July 17, 2020, Judge Stephen G. Scarlett, Sr. granted Dennis Perry a new trial, finding that newly discovered evidence -- mitochondrial DNA recovered from hairs found on glasses next to Harold and Thelma Swain -- linked alternate suspect Erik Sparre to the crime scene.

Given this terrific turn of events, I wanted to do another update on the status of all of the cases we've covered on Undisclosed.

Total cases covered: 22 cases.

Relief granted: 12 cases: 8 exonerations: (1) Shaurn Thomas; (2) Terrance Lewis; (3) Willie Veasy; (4) Chester Hollman III; (5) Charles Ray Finch; (6) Theophalis Wilson; (7) Jonathan Irons; and (8) Dennis Perry. 2 stays of execution: (1) Marcellus Williams; and (2) William Montgomery. 1 commutation: Cyntoia Brown. 1 grant of parole: Cyrus Wilson.

Currently pending: 5 cases. (1) Ronnie Long's en banc hearing in the Fourth Circuit; (2) Joey Watkins's successor habeas petition recently authorized to move forward by the Supreme Court of Georgia; (3) Joseph Webster's CRU petition; (4) Pedro Reynoso's CIU petition; and (5) Fred Freeman/Temujin Kensu's CIU petition.

New appeals expected soon: 4 cases: (1) Adnan Syed; (2) Jamar Huggins; (3) Pam Lanier; and (4) Greg Lance.

Options being explored: 1 case: Rocky Myers

Continue reading

July 18, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday, July 5, 2020

Undisclosed Mega-Update Thread

On June 30, 2020, the Supreme Court of Missouri refused to hear the State's appeal from Judge Daniel Green's opinion granting Jonathan Irons a new trial. On July 1st, Jonathan was released from prison. The following day, the prosecutor announced that he would not take Jonathan's case back to trial.

Given this terrific turn of events, I wanted to do another update on the status of all of the cases we've covered on Undisclosed.

Total cases covered: 22 cases.

Relief granted: 11 cases: 7 exonerations: (1) Shaurn Thomas; (2) Terrance Lewis; (3) Willie Veasy; (4) Chester Hollman III; (5) Charles Ray Finch; (6) Theophalis Wilson; and (7) Jonathan Irons. 2 stays of execution: (1) Marcellus Williams; and (2) William Montgomery. 1 commutation: Cyntoia Brown. 1 grant of parole: Cyrus Wilson.

DNA/Alternate Suspect: 1 case: Dennis Perry

Currently pending: 5 cases. (1) Ronnie Long's en banc hearing in the Fourth Circuit; (2) Joey Watkins's successor habeas petition recently authorized to move forward by the Supreme Court of Georgia; (3) Joseph Webster's CRU petition; (4) Pedro Reynoso's CIU petition; and (5) Fred Freeman/Temujin Kensu's CIU petition.

New appeals expected soon: 4 cases: (1) Adnan Syed; (2) Jamar Huggins; (3) Pam Lanier; and (4) Greg Lance.

Options being explored: 1 case: Rocky Myers

Continue reading

July 5, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (1)