A series of epidemiological studies, none big enough to be probative, but all pointing in the same direction, persuaded Emma Wilmot of the University of Leicester, in Britain, to carry out a meta-analysis.
The issue is complex, and evidence that could be absolutely probative is largely lacking there is no archaeological evidence that definitively establishes a migration of Indo-Aryans into the subcontinent, but there is equally no definitive archaeological evidence of Iranians and other Indo-European groups having emigrated from the subcontinent.
I am going to permit it, but I might say that I doubt it will have a great deal of probative value.
Rule 404 recognizes the explosive nature of prior-bad-acts evidence and instructs the judge, "In a criminal case this evidence is admissible only if the probative value of the evidence outweighs its potential for unfair prejudice".
But when an "expert" like Leonard tells a jury with little knowledge of science or linguistics that the language in one sample is consistent with the language in another, the prejudicial effect far outweighs any probative value that the observation might have in identifying the murderer.
Judges routinely exclude evidence when its prejudicial effect outweighs its probative value — an odd phrase that can be explained with an example from Hitt's article.
The memo, however, is far from probative.
"Every law student learns that there is a delicate balancing test to see if the prejudicial impact outweighs the probative value before such evidence is admitted," but "they quickly learn that in practice the balance always comes out in favor of admitting gruesome crime-scene photos, autopsy pictures, 911 calls, everything".
False negative test results, as reported recently from the laboratory of the New York City chief medical examiner, indicate that tests are analyzed that could, but don't, yield probative evidence.
Though the questions from the ESPN reporter Tom Rinaldi and Kelly Tilghman of the Golf Channel were as probative as the format allowed, Woods did not reveal a great deal more than he had in his original apology.
As the Justice Department points out in its guidelines for charging a corporation with a crime: "A corporation, like a natural person, is expected to learn from its mistakes," and "a history of similar misconduct may be probative of a corporate culture that encouraged, or at least condoned, such misdeeds, regardless of any compliance programs.
