Hearsay & Crawford v. Washington Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hearsay & Crawford v. Washington - Assignment Example There are several methods used for impeachment in a court of law and these include bias, character, inconsistent statement, contradiction and competency. The court allows demonstration of bias through cross-examination for impeachment, and this involves use of personal interests such as financial stake, blood relations among others to catalyze witness bias. Similarly, character is an impeachment method that focuses on demonstrating bad character such as prior conviction or non intrinsic evidence. Inconsistent statement involves use of prior statements that do not match the current testimony for impeachment, and these may also be used as substantive evidence. On the other hand, contradiction as a method of impeachment is where the witness says two or more contradicting statements in the same testimony. Finally, competency is the impeachment method where the witness lacks the required mental capacity, or he/she cannot sense what he claims to have. The Federal Rules if Evidence defines hearsay as, "a statement, other than one made by the  declarant  while  testifying  at the  trial  or  hearing, offered in  evidence  to prove the truth of the matter asserted" (Federal Rules of Evidence, 2009). Therefore, hearsay is out-of-court evidence and thus allowing it in a court trial interferes with the methods of testing credibility. For instance, testimonial hearsay does not give a chance for impeachment of the witness in order to determine the credibility of the evidence. The Sixth Amendment states that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right...to be confronted with the witnesses against him† (US Supreme Court Media, 2004).  However, in some cases the court allows evidence from out-of-the-court testimony on grounds that it should be reliable evidence. This is exemplified in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2004, on the case of Crawford v. Washington. Crawford, together with his wife, Sylvia, confronted and stabbed a ma n, Lee, who allegedly raped his wife. During the trial, Miranda was unable to testify as a result of the marital privilege rule of Washington, and thus, her statement was presented for the jury in the form of recorded evidence. As a result, Crawford was denied the opportunity to cross-examine witness as provided for in the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. Hence, argued that the court violated the Confrontation Clause by allowing his wife’s recorded-statement to be used in the trial, and thus denying him a chance for cross-examination. The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court reformulated the standards for the inclusion of hearsay statements in criminal trials under the Sixth Amendment. According to the court, cross-examination is required only to admit a witness’s prior testimonial statements, which was unavailable in the case of Crawford v. Washington. Crawford v. Washington Supreme Court’s decision relied on the Ohio v. Roberts U. S. Supreme Courtâ⠂¬â„¢s decision of 1980. In this decision, the court allowed use of out-of-court testimony against the defendant so long as the testimony was reliable. On those grounds, the court determined that Sylvia’s statement was reliable and thus could be used as evidence in the trial. The trial court noted that the evidence was trustworthy and gave reasons to support its use in the criminal case against Crawford. For example, Sylvia and Crawford were interrogated separately, and the statements

Miami school district negotiation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Miami school district negotiation - Essay Example This also controls incidents of school boards misappropriating the funds by engaging in expensive or unnecessary projects. The redistricting of school boundaries also plays a vital role in limiting future bond packages and maximizes utilization of education facilities in the schools (Greene, 2000). As a result, poverty gaps manifested in the education system are eliminated as well as improving the overall quality of education. Conversely, rezoning of the school boundaries implies that a great deal of students change schools and teachers are transferred. This process is also resource intensive with huge portions of public funds going into it. As a result, there is need for dedication from all stakeholders. Therefore, before school boundaries are redrawn all the concerns and recommendations voiced by stakeholders should be considered. For instance, the quality of education is vital in today’s society. This is one of the fundamental principles that parents consider especially whe n shifting, building and buying their homes in particular school districts. This is because the quality of education that is subjected to children shapes their future as well as molds their personalities, talents and character. Poor quality of education from early stages in life i.e. intermediate and secondary level of education, will adversely affect the livelihood of students (Brantlinger, 2003). Therefore, in the event of redistricting school boundaries parents are usually concerned about teachers’ competence, implemented strategies of accessing and determining quality of education facilities and the standards of education in these schools where they are supposed to transfer their children to. Another factor that parents consider in the event of redistricting school boundaries is the increase in cost and time taken to travel to and from school. Most of the students who should be transferred have to either use the school bus or walk a further distance to get to their new sc hool. Such measures usually disorient students to the extent of adversely affecting their time management and study plans. Moreover, parents also consider that their children will have to be subjected to different environmental factors that may adversely affect their social life (Douglas, Crowson & Shipps, 2006). On the same note, parents fear that their children will have lose ties with friends from the former school which may also affect their social life subsequently affecting their grades. The students too constitute major stakeholders in the education system. The process of redrawing new school boundaries may affect the quality of education they are subjected to especially if the schools they are transferred to have lower quality standards. In addition, they may have to travel long distances, face rejection due to their racial, economic, cultural and religious differences and break friendship ties with their former friends. Conversely, their social life and self esteem may chan ge to be worse. On the other hand, teachers and the other staff will also be affected by the redistricting process because they will also be transferred to a new working environment which also means that there will be a couple of layoffs. Their concern is fitting in and adjusting to the new environment as well as their future and career