Foreword

Abstract

Thank you to the Georgia Law Review and the University ofGeorgia School of Law for inviting me to discuss evidence reformin the State of Georgia. As a trial lawyer, it is both an honor-anda daunting task-to address such a distinguished group ofevidence scholars as have gathered here today.More than 150 years ago, the author of Georgia\u27s first evidencecode, Judge David Irwin, began with a simple principle: Theobject of all legal investigation is the discovery of truth. 2 If that isso, and I believe that it is, then an evidence code is a lens thatfocuses the discovery and that brings truth into perspective. Therules of evidence filter information, controlling what evidence ajury may, and may not, hear as it weighs the claims before it.They focus the jury\u27s perception of the evidence before it, settingthe parameters of what a given piece of evidence does, or does not,establish. They are fundamental to our system of justice andaffect, in a very real way, the manner in which legal proceedingsare conducted and whether the ultimate outcome is fair and just