CA Testimonial Evidence Flashcards
Competency of Witnesses
Both Fed and CA: require witnesses to testify based on personal knowledge, make oath or affirmation to tell truth, etc
CA: Additional competency req: witness must understand her legal duty to tell the truth. Extra mental competency element.
Opinion Testimony by Expert Witnesses
Under fed and CA law, expert witness opinion must be based on reliable methods reliably applied to the facts in the case.
Fed and CA law differ with respect to determining reliability of scientific opinions:
1) Federal Daubert-Kumho standard: under fed law, there are multiple factors fed cts look at t odecide if scientific evidence is relevant: testing, peer reviewed, extent to which the science is generally accepted in that scientific community, etc.
2) CA Kelly-Frye Standard: CA courts only look at 1 factor: the opinion must be based on principles that are GENERALLY ACCEPTED by experts in the field. This standard is not altered by Prop 8 because it’s a standard of relevance, and Prop 8 only makes evidence admissible if it’s relevant. If scientific evidence is not generally accepted, then it’s not relevant in the first place. That’s why Prop 8 isn’t an issue here.
Learned Treatise Hearsay Exception
Fed: a learned treatise can be admissible over a hearsay exception if shown to be an established and accepted authority in the field. Then you can use it to cross X the witness or read parts of it into evidence (the book itself isn’t admissible)
CA: Much narrower. Applies only for facts of “general notoriety or interest” so things that are highly technical don’t fit. This means learned treatises almost never work in CA.
