Document Type
Amicus Brief
Publication Date
6-20-2011
Case Name
Coble v. Texas
Abstract
Amici are scholars who teach and write about criminal law, criminal procedure, and evidence. We file this brief to address the relationship between rules of admissibility for psychiatric testimony and Eighth Amendment standards for procedure in capital trials. The decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals paid little attention to this relationship, but in so doing it ignored much of this Court’s important capital punishment jurisprudence. Amici write to emphasize that the Eighth Amendment’s emphasis on reliability and accuracy in capital trials has ramifications for the admissibility of expert testimony.
Our scholarly interest in this issue arises from teaching and writing in a variety of related fields, including criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, and constitutional law. Erica Beecher-Monas is a Professor of Law at Wayne State University Law School where she teaches Evidence. David Bruck is a Clinical Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law where he directs the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, which provides training and litigation assistance to court-appointed Virginia attorneys representing capitally-charged clients before and at trial. Deborah Denno is the Arthur A. McGivney Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law where she teaches Criminal Law and advanced criminal law seminars. George E. Dix holds the George R. Killam, Jr. Chair of Criminal Law at the University of Texas School of Law where he teaches Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure. Paul C. Giannelli is the Albert J. Weatherhead III and Richard W. Weatherhead Professor of Law at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law where he teaches Evidence. Alexander A. Reinert is an Associate Professor of Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he teaches Criminal Law and Constitutional Law. Brian D. Shannon is the Charles Thornton Professor of Law at the Texas Tech University School of Law, where he teaches Criminal Law and Law and Psychiatry. Christopher Slobogin holds the Milton Underwood Chair in Law at Vanderbilt University Law School, where he is the Director of the Criminal Justice Program and teaches Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence.
Recommended Citation
Reinert, Alexander A., "Brief for Evidence and Criminal Law Scholars as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner" (2011). Faculty Amicus Briefs. 3.
https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/faculty-briefs/3
