Forfeiture by Misconduct: Proposed Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(6)
![handle is hein.journals/orglr75 and id is 865 raw text is: Forfeiture by Misconduct: Proposed
Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(6)
When intimidated by a defendant, some vitnesses are reluc-
tant to testify in court. Just keeping witnesses alive can be a
daunting task. Consider the following:
Congress authorized the Witness Protection Program in
the Organized Crime Act of 1970 in response to organized
criminal witness tampering.1 Administered by the U.S.
Marshals' Service, the program has relocated 6500 wit-
nesses (ninety-eight percent with criminal records) with
new identities as of 1996.2
* A 1976 study in Brooklyn Criminal Court found that
thirty-six percent of female witnesses and fifteen percent of
male witnesses reported being threatened.
* Between 1990 and 1992, nearly 250 Los Angeles 'County
families and individuals were relocated after becoming en-
dangered because they were witnesses to or victims of
crime. About seventy-five percent of those moves
stemmed from intimidation by gangs.4
* Federal District Judge Alex Williams (D. Md.) considers
witness intimidation the biggest threat to criminal justice
today.5
Attempting to prevent witness intimidation, and in response to
the absence of a specific evidentiary rule, the Committee on
Rules of Practice and Procedure recently proposed an amend-
ment to the Federal Rules of Evidence.6 The amendment
1 MICHAEL H. GRAHAM, WITNESS INTIMIDATION: THE LAW'S RESPONSE 85
(1985). See generally 18 U.S.C. § 1961 (1970) (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations).
2 Robert Sabbag, The Invisible Family, N.Y.TIMEs MAGAZINE, Feb. 11, 1996, at
33, 35.
3 See Elizabeth Connick & Robert C. Davis, Examining the Problem of Witness
Intimidation, 66 JUDICATURE 439, 441 n.3 (1983) (citation omitted).
4 Sheryl Stolberg, Some Crime Witnesses Pay High Price for Civic Duty, L.A.
TIMES, Aug. 30, 1992, at Al, A26.
5 Amy Argetsinger, Putting Evidence on Ice, WASH. POST, Oct. 26, 1995, at Mdl,
Md7; Telephone Interview with Judge Williams (Sept. 1996) (Judge Williams stated
that sometimes just keeping witnesses alive is a problem).
6 In September 1995, the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the
Judicial Conference of the United States issued a Request for Comment on pre-
liminary drafts of proposed amendments to several federal rules. Committee on
Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the U.S., Request for
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Forfeiture by Misconduct: Proposed Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(6)
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