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EDITORIAL : INFORMATION IS POWER A NEW STATE LAW EXPANDS VICTIMS' RIGHTS IN THE COURTROOM.


Alterations to California's judicial system should not be done frivolously or rashly. But when shortcomings A shortcoming is a character flaw.

Shortcomings may also be:
  • Shortcomings (SATC episode), an episode of the television series Sex and the City
 become apparent, there may be good reason for decision makers to conduct an examination and make changes.

A case in point: The justice system is paying more attention, and properly so, to the plight of crime victims.

This year, the state Legislature A state legislature may refer to a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.

The following legislatures exist in the following political subdivisions:
 overwhelmingly approved a bill by Assemblyman as·sem·bly·man  
n.
A man who is a member of a legislative assembly.


assemblyman
Noun

pl -men a member of a legislative assembly

Noun 1.
 Bernie Richter, R-Chico, to permit certain written or recorded statements of crime victims - such as diaries - to be admitted as evidence in criminal or civil cases when the victims cannot testify in person. Gov. Pete Wilson For others named Pete Wilson, see .
Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. Wilson served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that
 signed it into law Sept. 4.

News coverage about the legislation focused on one detail, namely the fact that the law will allow diaries of the late Nicole Brown Simpson Nicole Brown Simpson (May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the wife of American football player O.J. Simpson. Found murdered at her home in Los Angeles, California, along with her friend Ronald Goldman, her death led to one of the most controversial and widely-discussed criminal  to be entered as evidence in the civil trial of O.J. Simpson. But it also is expected to affect many other cases - most of them the largely unpublicized crimes of violence that do not involve celebrities and the trappings of wealth.

The law creates a new exception to the hearsay-evidence rule, letting judges accept as evidence certain statements of unavailable victims that formerly were off-limits during trials. Naturally, defense lawyers will have opportunities to rebut To defeat, dispute, or remove the effect of the other side's facts or arguments in a particular case or controversy.

When a defendant in a lawsuit proves that the plaintiff's allegations are not true, the defendant has thereby rebutted them.


TO REBUT.
 those victims' statements - as they certainly deserve to do on behalf of their clients.

It's no surprise that defense attorneys opposed Richter's bill, claiming that it permits a type of evidence they say is untrustworthy. But even though there might be difficulties in verifying such statements during criminal and civil trials, on the whole it seems like common sense to introduce information that has a bearing on the crime.

Victims who are dead, missing or in a coma deserve justice, and the quality of justice might improve as the quantity of information increases. When O.J. Simpson was facing criminal charges in the killings of his ex-wife and Ronald L. Goldman, Judge Lance Ito Lance Allan Ito (born August 2, 1950 in Los Angeles, California) is a Japanese-American Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, best known for his role in the O. J. Simpson murder trial. He currently hears felony criminal cases at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.  did not allow a diary entry by Nicole Simpson to be admitted as evidence.

It's hard to discount the potential impact if prosecutors had been able to use Nicole Simpson's diary describing a series of threats from O.J. Simpson during a heated argument just days before she and Goldman were slashed to death.
COPYRIGHT 1996 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1996, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Article Type:Editorial
Date:Sep 12, 1996
Words:373
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