evidence

From Art to Evidence: The Admissibility of Rap Lyrics in Criminal Trials

Dec. 13, 2023—By Sophie Zelony Jeffery Lamar Williams, more famously known as Grammy-award winning, Billboard-chart-topping, Atlanta-born rapper, “Young Thug,” is back in the spotlight, and his rap music has taken center-stage in Fulton County Superior Court as he faces criminal charges for conspiring to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) Act, alongside 27 other defendants....

Rapt Admissions: Comparing Proposed Federal Rule of Evidence 416 “Rap Shield” with the Rule 412 “Rape Shield”

Jul. 28, 2023—Patience Tyne | 25 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L. 813 (2023). Creative expression depicting illicit activity can cause jurors to infer improper conclusions about a defendant, even when the jurors attempt to analyze such evidence objectively. When the government seeks to admit a defendant’s creative work into evidence in a criminal trial, courts use...