The law of expert evidence has experienced significant recent developments.  This presentation will discuss the recent amendment to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 (experts) and what we as criminal defense lawyers can do to take advantage of the amendment (especially when it comes to excluding government sponsored expert evidence).  The presentation will also cover the recent Supreme Court decisions in Diaz v. United States (opinion on ultimate issue), and Smith v. Arizona (Confrontation Clause).

What They Are, What They Do, How Far They Fly, and What They Can Reveal About What Happened

The suspect said he fired his gun straight up in the air on the night officers surrounded his home. The prosecutor said the suspect fired in the direction of a police officer, striking and killing him. Did the suspect shoot the officer, or did another police officer shoot him? Figuring out who shot the officer requires an investigation of shotgun wads. What are shotgun wads? What can they tell us? Steven Howard explains.

The Supreme Court’s Bruen decision will have a major impact across the United States. Jurisdictions will make changes to gun regulations already on the books, and lawyers will bring legal challenges to existing gun laws. Defense attorneys Zachary Newland and Catherine Turner review and explain the new standard set forth in Bruen, and they discuss how lawyers are using the new standard to challenge the constitutionality of firearm laws.

ShotSpotter is acoustic gunshot detection and location technology that detects gunfire using GPS-enabled microphone sensors installed on rooftops and utility poles. According to ShotSpotter, the sensors can result in the placement of a fixed point on a map (within a few feet) where a gunshot event happened. However, are the sounds always gunshots or are they sometimes vehicles backfiring or fireworks? How accurate is ShotSpotter? Preliminary reports suggest a level of geographic precision that does not withstand the company’s own detailed analysis.

FBI's Forensic Test Full of Holes, Washington Post, April 15, 2007.

A detailed PowerPoint presentation detailing firearm identification methods with exemplary cases. 

In the Supreme Court of Mississippi; Manning v. State of Mississippi 

Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondent.

Corrected En Banc Amici Curiae Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and Families Against Mandatory Minimums In Support of Petitioner-Appellant

"Actual Innocence" May Trigger Release - Washington, DC (May 18, 1998) -- In a decision that could affect hundreds of prisoners across the country, the U.S. Supreme Court today decided that a 1995 case which defined "using or carrying" a firearm in relation to certain crimes may be retroactively applied. Even prisoners who pleaded guilty prior to the 1995 case, Bailey v. United States, should be allowed to show that they are actually innocent of the crime as now defined by the Court, the Chief Justice says in today's decision, Bousley v. United States.

Supreme Court Broadens Gun Law - Washington, DC (June 8, 1998) -- A 5-4 decision today by the Supreme Court could affect thousands of federal drug defendants caught "carrying" a firearm, adding five years or more to their sentences even if the weapon was not immediately accessible to them.

Supreme Court Limits Unfair Prejudice in Gun Cases - Washington, DC (January 7, 1997) -- The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers applauds today's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court limiting prosecutors' ability to introduce highly prejudicial or inflammatory evidence in federal prosecutions of convicted felons accused of possessing a firearm. The ruling conforms with the general rule which prohibits, in most cases, the prosecution from revealing facts about a defendant's prior record.

Challenging Firearms and Toolmark Identification Part One