A bloodhound is actually allowed to testify in the courtroom as to the
identity of the owner of a scent on a piece of evidence. So, if the
evidence left at the crime scene is shown to the bloodhound in the
courtroom, the animal is allowed to search for and identify the
owner(producer) of the scent, if he/she is present.
If the proper foundation has been laid for the chain of custody on the
evidence, then the dog's "testimony" is considered to have great weight. It
also impresses the hell out of a jury! <g>
Virginia L. Smith
Law Librarian
Chaffe, McCall, Phillips, Toler & Sarpy
2300 Energy Centre
1100 Poydras Street
New Orleans, LA 70163-2300
Phone: 504-585-7211
FAX: 504-585-7075
Email: smithv@chaffe.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Stephanie Davidson [mailto:stephanie.davidson@yale.edu]
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 2:05 PM
To: MBARR
Cc: 'law-lib@ucdavis.edu'
Subject: Re: Admissible Evidence
Given that it's a common trivia question, I'll have to suggest that
they're intending the answer to be " the bloodhound." But I have no
idea where the support for that assertion comes from, since theoretically
nearly anything could serve as evidence, so long as it meets the other
FRE evidentiary requirements (e.g. there's no bar I know of on "animal
evidence" as opposed to "vegetable evidence" or "technological evidence",
etc.)
-stephanie
On Mon, 8 Apr 2002, MBARR wrote:
>
> I'm feeling a little dense today, so I'm passing this one to the
> list. A fifth grade teacher in our area has included the following
question
> on a trivia quiz for her students, and I was hoping someone might have an
> answer (other than the obvious, human beings):
>
> WHICH ANIMAL'S EVIDENCE IS ADMISSIBLE IN A COURT OF LAW?
>
> Please reply off-list to mbarr@cuyahoga.lib.oh.us. Thanks!
>
> Melissa Barr, Legal Resources Specialist
> Cuyahoga County Public Library
> 5225 Library Lane
> Maple Heights, OH 44137
> Tel. (216) 475-5000
> mbarr@cuyahoga.lib.oh.us
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 14 2007 - 20:36:32 PST