Summers, 1999
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4 Terms
How does Summers define formal legal truth?
whatever is found as fact by the legal fact-finder
How does Summers define substantive truth?
The actual truth
What explanations Summers does offer for why formal legal truth may “fail to coincide with substantive truth”?
The process of collecting the truth can lead to these differences
Ex bad lawyer red, bias, etc.
The trial court procedures and rules of evidence, although aimed at substantive truth, are also designed to serve other ends
EX. forbidding the use of good evidence because it was procured by an illegal search
Is it always undesirable for formal legal truth to diverge from substantive truth? Why or why not?
Not always undesirable, because if evidence is collected in illegal and really bad ways, ex beating someone, then it shouldn’t be included in order to show that the behavior in not condoled. Also, not every piece of evidence is needed to find someone guilty/not guilty.