August | 2011 | Daryl Crouse, CI, CT

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Apple Blocks Access for People with Disabilities

August 29, 2011 in Blog, Interpreting, Politics, Video Relay

I just discovered that Apple is now preventing iPad 2 users from downgrading from 4.3.5 to 4.3.3. Obviously, Apple is trying to prevent people from jailbreaking their iPad 2. The one thing Apple is forgetting; without the ability to downgrade the device to 4.3.3 so a user can choose to jailbreak (perfectly legal to do so) the user cannot use Facetime over 3G connection. The user is limited to only using Facetime over WiFi. This is very limiting because it prevents a Deaf or Hard of Hearing user from making a phone call to other Facetime users and in some cases to a hearing person through video relay.

Historically, a user was able to control the version of iOS installed on the device. Apple is now acting with impunity and all out monopolistic actions that are having detrimental effects on Deaf users.

Tags: apple, apple monopoly, disability access, ipad2, jailbreaking Comments Off

by Daryl

Principles of Evidence – Part 3

August 7, 2011 in Blog, Law School

240 HEARSAY EXCEPTIONS Ch. VII As a general matter, the drafters of the Federal Rules thought that statements falling within the Rule 804 exceptions were not as reliable as live testimony, but superior to no evidence at all.
They built in a preference for the declarant’s live testimony. Read the rest of this entry →

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by Daryl

Principles of Evidence – Part 2

August 7, 2011 in Blog, Law School

Â§ 3.6 RULES OF RELEVANCE RELATED TO CHARACTER 91 be useful to recall the basic principle that individual items of evidence need not meet the standard of proof that applies to the totality of the evidence.
Although the sum of all the evidence in a criminal case must support belief of the accused’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, this standard of proof is not applied to individual items of evidence.
Observe that the use of other (collateral) misconduct evidence is another illustration of the principle of conditional relevance. Read the rest of this entry →

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by Daryl

Principles of Evidence – Part 1

August 7, 2011 in Blog, Law School

The ability to recognize, develop, and preserve admissible evidence is essential to becoming a competent lawyer.
The received wisdom is that juries must be shielded from evidence that would be prejudicial or highly inflammatory in order to decrease the likelihood of a verdict prompted by momentary passions or erroneous inferences.
(Although the rules of evidence apply in bench (i.e., judge) trials, many of them are not strictly enforced and appellate reversals of evidentiary rulings in bench trials are rare.’ Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: evidence, law Comments Off