RALEIGH — A recent article written by Assistant Law Professor Dan Tilly analyzes an extremely controversial North Carolina rule of evidence and calls for much needed change.
The scholarly article, entitled “Victim’s Under Attack: North Carolina’s Flawed Rule 609,” was published in the September 2019 issue of the North Carolina Law Review.
In the article, Tilly highlights the stark difference in application of North Carolina’s Rule 609 compared to the Federal Rule. Specifically, Tilly discusses the impact Rule 609 has on victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, stating that the broad impeachment rule senselessly punishes them by allowing for the introduction of prior convictions, regardless of the implicit prejudice that results. Tilly wraps up his article with proposed statutory reforms that would narrow the scope of the rule.
The article is available on the North Carolina Law Review website, and can be accessed using the following link: VICTIMS UNDER ATTACK: NORTH CAROLINA’S FLAWED RULE 609.
Professor Tilly serves as the law school’s Director of Advocacy. He regularly teaches Evidence, Trial Advocacy, Advanced Legal Analysis to upper-level students, and Campbell Advantage to first-year students. In addition to his heavy teaching load, Professor Tilly has published multiple law review articles and has coached more than 100 student advocates in mock trial and moot court competitions. He is the only one to have coached two Top Gun advocacy champions in the competition’s 10-year history.
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Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion, and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. Among its accolades, the school has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation’s top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 4,200 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2019, Campbell Law celebrated 40 years of graduating legal leaders and 10 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina’s Capital City.