Face-work in Chinese routine criminal trials

This article examines the performative aspect of face-to-face interactions among various legal actors and defendants in routine criminal trials in China. Using 105 trial videos as empirical data, the author develops a face-work framework to understand how an individual judge's “face”—signifying judges' legal and political roles, and their professional status—is established, protected, and enhanced during courtroom interactions. The study shows that the legal face of judges can be established by some characterizations of the nature of criminal trials such as the demarcation of legal space, the speed of the trial, and the apprising of rights to the defendants. Nevertheless, the legal face can also be disrupted by trial interactions due to judges' lack of judicial authority. Hence, Chinese judges maintain their authority through the establishment of their political face. They also use both their political face and legal face to establish their situational professional status. These interactions often lead to punitive and coercive measures against defendants in trials. While the article focuses on routine criminal trials in China, the face-work framework has the potential to explain courtroom interactions in other types of social contexts and legal proceedings.     

Victim participation in criminal trials in Japan

Since 2000, the Japanese Code of Criminal Procedure has been revised twice to introduce into criminal trials two systems of victim participation: the Victim’s Statement of Opinion (VSO) and the Victim Participation System. This study addresses the impact of those systems on decision-making in criminal trials, with special focus on the impact on sentencing. Following a literature review are the early findings from my psychological experiment which focuses on sentencing by lay judges. The results indicate that information concerning crime victims does have an impact on sentencing, but it is immaterial whether or not the information is submitted through recently introduced systems. Evaluations of those systems from the perspectives of crime victims also indicate that they tend to evaluate at least the VSO positively, regardless of the statements’ perceived lack of impact on the outcome.     

The use of DNA statistics in criminal trials

In a number of recent cases in the UK, convictions have been quashed by the Court of Appeal on the grounds that the jury had been misdirected as to the factual significance of random occurrence statistics. The mathematical basis on which those statistics are calculated was reviewed and recent appeal cases involving DNA evidence in the UK and the US were examined. It was found that a widespread misconception exists regarding the random occurrence ratio and its relationship with probability of guilt. It is in fact impossible to relate the two with any degree of accuracy without consideration of social and demographic factors particular to a case as well as any non-DNA evidence obtained.     

论毒品犯罪案件的证据

毒品犯罪案件有许多不同于普通刑事案件的特殊性，毒品案件中的证据又具有相对的单一性，必须当场缴获毒品和毒资才能证实犯罪。本文结合缉毒侦查中的具体情况，强调办理毒品案件必须增强证据意识，要把握好破案的时机，适时取证；收集证据一定要十分仔细，获取的证据应做好固定保全工作，并特别注意取证的合法性；采用技术侦察手段须把握住一条底线：不得诱人犯罪；应正确运用推定规则判定“明知”，对推定结论允许以确凿的事实予以反驳。     

论毒品犯罪案件的证据

毒品犯罪案件有许多不同于普通刑事案件的特殊性,毒品案件中的证据又具有相对的单一性,必须当场缴获毒品和毒资才能证实犯罪。本文结合缉毒侦查中的具体情况,强调办理毒品案件必须增强证据意识,要把握好破案的时机,适时取证;收集证据一定要十分仔细,获取的证据应做好固定保全工作,并特别注意取证的合法性;采用技术侦察手段须把握住一条底线:不得诱人犯罪;应正确运用推定规则判定"明知",对推定结论允许以确凿的事实予以反驳。     

Luminous lip-prints as criminal evidence

Luminescence is specially a useful property for the search of invisible evidences at the scene of a crime. In the latent fingerprints particular case, there are at one's disposal fluorescent reagents for their localization. The study of latent lip prints (that is lip prints from protective lipstick, or permanent or long-lasting lipstick that do not leave any visible marks) is more recent than fingerprints study. Because of the different composition of both types of prints, different reagents have been tried out on their developing. Although, lysochromes are particularly useful reagents to obtain latent lip prints, it may occur on coloured or multicoloured surfaces, the developing is not perceived due to contrast problems between the reagent and the surface where the print is searched. Again, luminescence offers the possibility to solve this problem. Nile Red is being studied as a potential developer for latent lip prints. The results on very old prints (over 1year) indicate that this reagent is highly efficient to get latent lip prints.     

论刑事非法证据排除规则

非法证据排除规则是个人本位,强调尊重人权和对人的道德关怀的历史产物,是对控制犯罪、保障人权这两大价值目标权衡、妥协的产物,是一国诉讼制度民主、文明与否的试金石。由于历史和现实的原因,我国是一个社会本位,忽视个人权利和人格尊严的东方大国,刑事诉讼中非法取证现象非常普遍。如何在我国特殊的历史文化条件下,建构一个中国式的排除规则,成为刑事证据立法的热点和难点,本论文力图勾勒其基本框架。     

Decision making in joined criminal trials: The influence of charge similarity,evidence similarity,and limiting instructions

The present research investigated decision-making processes in joined trials of multiple offenses. Subjects judged videotaped trials of three joined charges in a factorial design that varied charge similarity, evidence similarity, and judges' instructions designed to reduce judgement biases; or judged one of several charges presented individually. The results indicated that subjects were more likely to convict a defendant in a joined trial than on the same charge tried by itself, particularly when the charge was presented in the third position. Convictions were more frequent when joined charges were similar, and judges' instructions significantly reduced conviction rates. Subjects judging joined trials confused evidence among charges, rated the prosecution's evidence as stronger, and rated the defendent less favorably than subjects judging single trials. The findings were compared statistically to the results of previous research, and it was concluded that increased convictions in joined trials are robust effects.This research is based on part of a doctoral dissertation by S. Tanford at the University of Wisconsin. The research was supported by National Institute of Justice Grant No. 81-LJ-CX-0048 to S. Penrod.     

德国刑事诉讼法中的证据使用禁止

本文从批判性的视角概述了德国刑事诉讼法中关于证据采纳或者说是关于证据禁止的问题。证据禁止区分为非自主性证据使用禁止和自主性证据使用禁止。非自主性证据使用禁止可能是由于公诉中初步侦查时的取证错误导致的。就是否适用非自主性证据使用禁止这一问题,德国司法官会从几个方面加以考虑,例如,犯罪的严重性或者是取证错误的严重性。自主性证据使用禁止是由于侵犯了个人隐私。例如,私人日记不能作为证据使用。     

The effects of stealing thunder in criminal and civil trials

The effectiveness of a persuasion technique referred to asstealing thunder was assessed in two simulated jury trials. Stealing thunder is defined as revealing negative information about oneself (or, in a legal setting, one's client) before it is revealed or elicited by another person. In Study 1, 257 college students read or heard one of three versions of a criminal assault trial in which a damaging piece of evidence about the defendant was absent (no thunder), brought up by the prosecutor (thunder), or brought up by the defense attorney and repeated by the prosecutor (stolen thunder). In Study 2, 148 college students heard a civil negligence trial in which damaging evidence about the key plaintiff's witness was absent (no thunder), brought up by the defendant's attorney (thunder), or brought up by the witness himself (stolen thunder). In both studies, stealing thunder significantly reduced the impact of the negative information. A path analysis of the processes underlying the effect suggested that verdicts were affected because of enhanced credibility.Often a difficult decision in opening statements is whether, and if so how, to volunteer weaknesses. This involves determining your weaknesses and predicting whether your opponent intends to use them at trial. There is obviously no point in volunteering a weakness that would never be raised at trial. Where, however, that weakness is apparent and known to the opponent, you should volunteer it. If you don't, your opponent will, with twice the impact. (Mauet, 1992, pp. 47–48)We would like to thank Michelle Cox, Gim Koay, Dana Koay, and Ralph Mueller for their helpful input. Thanks also to Irv Horowitz and Steve Karau for their comments on earlier drafts.     

Storage time for criminal trace evidence

The article discusses the question if and under what conditions trace evidence may be stored for DNA analysis. The authors report on several cases in which methodological improvements or even the introduction of DNA technology itself helped to identify the perpetrator or to rule out a suspect, who may already have been wrongly convicted, many years after the offence. Under medical and scientific aspects these cases seem to speak in favour of unlimited storage. German law does not contain explicit regulations on the storage of trace evidence of unknown origin, although it seems admissible under existing law. In view of a minor need of protection as against a high interest in the preservation of trace evidence, storage for an unlimited period of time seems necessary.     

浅谈刑事非法证据排除规则的设立

刑事非法证据排除规则是刑事被诉人人权保障制度极为重要的组成部分,是被诉人人权保障制度研究不能回避的重大课题。本文论述了我国刑事非法证据排除规则制度的现状及不足,提出了设立刑事非法证据排除规则的建议。     

A statistical model examining repetitive criminal behavior in acts of violence

A simple statistical model for examining repetitive criminal behavior in acts of violence is described. The units, called "parameters," are nonquestionable data concerning environment of the crime, personal properties, and postmortem findings of the victim, obtained by double-blind investigation performed by two forensic pathologists. Parameters shared by two or more criminal acts allegedly committed by the same assailant were compared with the same parameters recorded from 50 or 100 other mutually independent criminal acts committed by other known assailants. This allowed an evaluation of the probability (p) of a crime pattern expressed as a parameter score to recur in mutually independent cases. The distribution of the score, when plotted on a logarithmic scale in all examples, showed an approximately normal distribution. The relation between probability (p), the estimated mean (means), and standard deviation (SD) yielded a normal curve. Different patterns of action by different perpetrators and patterns indicating repetitive behavior could be obtained. The method is applicable during investigation of crimes in which the perpetrator acts in a repetitive manner, as in serial murders.     

The use of neuroscientific evidence in Canadian criminal proceedings

This article addresses the question of how neuroscientific evidence is currently used in the Canadian criminal justice system, with a view to identifying the main contexts in which this evidence is raised, as well as to discern the impact of this evidence on judgements of responsibility, dangerousness, and treatability. The most general Canadian legal database was searched for cases in the five-year period between 2008 and 2012 in which neuroscientific evidence related to the responsibility and recidivism risk of criminal offenders was considered. Canadian courts consider neuroscientific evidence of many types, particularly evidence of prenatal alcohol exposure, traumatic brain injury, and neuropsychological testing. The majority of the cases are sentencing decisions, which is useful given that it offers an opportunity to observe how judges wrestle with the tension that evidence of diminished capacity due to brain damage tends to reduce moral blameworthiness, while it also tends to increase perceptions of risk and dangerousness. This so-called double-edged sword of the biological explanation of criminal behavior was reflected in this study, and raises questions about whether and when the pursuit of such evidence is advisable from the defense perspective.