EVIDENCE-HEARSAY-ADMISSIBILITY OF PUBLIC OPINION POLLS

Authors

John C. Hall S.Ed., University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

The Florida Supreme Court sustained the conviction of Irvin, a Negro, on a charge of rape, but the Supreme Court of the United States reversed and remanded the case. Defendant was granted a change of venue to Marion County, where he requested a second change of venue, claiming that the notoriety of his case had made him personally odious to the residents of Marion County. He attempted to introduce the results of a public opinion poll made by the Elmo Roper Research and Public Opinion Organization to support his claim. The field supervisor and the tabulator were called to testify on the results of the poll, but no interviewers were called. The lower court ruled the evidence inadmissible. On appeal, held, affirmed. The testimony would have been hearsay on hearsay, and the use of dissociated questions in the interview prevented voluntary expression of attitude toward defendant. Irvin v. State, (Fla. IQ53) 66 S. (2d) 288.

Recommended Citation

John C. Hall S.Ed., EVIDENCE-HEARSAY-ADMISSIBILITY OF PUBLIC OPINION POLLS, 52 Mich. L. Rev. 914 (1954).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol52/iss6/14