Crippling the Defense of an Accused: The Constitutionality of the Criminal Defendant's Right to Testify

Abstract:     
To fully appreciate the problematic nature of the judge's various rulings and admonitions and whether they constituted a restriction on Alfred Gutierrez's "right" to fully testify we must turn back to the quagmire of rulings and admonitions that preceded Gutierrez's testimony. Once so situated, we can turn to the historical basis of the right to testify and ascertain if the policies and rationales inherent in that right were served in this instance.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 42

Keywords: right to testify, testimony, constitutionality, defendant

Accepted Paper Series