Last week, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a noteworthy decision that a party cannot meet its burden of proof by relying merely on testimony that witnesses "have no recollection" of a specific event occurring. In Victor v. Reynolds, the Court overturned a jury verdict based on "lack of recollection" testimony because such testimony cannot meet a plaintiff's burden of proof. And if such testimony cannot sustain a jury verdict, then [...]

As JudgeRakoff explained in a January 21, 2026 opinion in United States v. Rinsch, fraud consists of obtaining a victim's money or property by lying, and if said lying is done intentionally and involves the use of mail or interstate wires, it is a federal crime. Sometimes after obtaining a victim's money or property, a fraudster continues to lie to the victim to conceal the initial fraud. This post-fraud lying is known as "lulling." Courts [...]

Jimmie “Chris” Duncan was released on bail last month after 27 years on death row at Louisiana’s Angola prison following a wrongful conviction for a crime that never occurred.  In May 2025, Judge Alvin Sharp of the 4th Judicial District in Ouachita Parish ruled that clear and convincing evidence proves Mr. Duncan is factually innocent in the alleged murder of Haley Oliveaux, a charge that was based entirely on junk science proffered by discredited [...]