Aaron Diaz Selected for St. Mary’s Law Journal Publication

Aaron Diaz, Law Clerk for Goldstein, Goldstein, Hilley & Orr, will have the honor of having his law review article published in St. Mary’s Law Journal. Diaz, who is a law student at St. Mary’s University School of Law, wrote his article about Rule 404(b), a controversial Federal Rule of Evidence that allows prosecutors to have character evidence admitted against a criminal defendant in certain situations.

The article entitled, Restoring the Presumption of Innocence: Protecting a Defendant’s Right to a Fair Trial by Closing the Door on 404(b) Evidence, and summarized below will be published next year in volume 51 of St. Mary’s Law Journal.

“A defendant’s prior bad acts can have damaging effects on his or her trial.  And despite efforts to amend Rule 404(b), the rule has remained virtually untouched.  In fact, Rule 404(b) is one of the most litigated evidence rules and has generated more published opinions than any other subsections of the rules.  This comment proposes a solution that limits the prosecution from admitting 404(b) evidence, restores courtroom fairness, and strengthens the presumption of innocence.”

It is a huge feather in a young lawyer’s cap to have a law review article published. Only top ranked students make it to their school’s respective law review journal and only a portion of those students have their articles selected for publication. Law review articles become valuable resources for lawyers while they conduct research for cases and are sometimes used as citations in motions and briefs to the court. We are very proud of Mr. Diaz and look forward to welcoming him to the profession when he graduates next year. Congratulations Aaron!