Reviewing the Unreviewable Judge: Federal Prosecution Appeals of Mid trial Evidentiary Rulings

Abstract

When a party to a suit lacks the right to appeal, the authority of the presiding judge to determine the litigant's fate is virtually absolute. By allowing the correction of injustices resulting from mistakes of law and heterodox interpretations of settled doctrine, the right to appellate review acts as a fetter to this enormous power of the nisi prius judge. It is therefore noteworthy that in Federal criminal cases any mid-trial evidentiary ruling that favors the defendant is forever insulated from review.