Evidence Flashcards
What is hearsay?
Hearsay is an out of court statement offered for the truth of the matter asserted. Hearsay is generally inadmissible unless it falls within an exception or exclusion.
What is the present sense impression exception to hearsay?
Under the present sense impression exception, a statement describing or explaining an event or condition that is made while or immediately after the declarant perceived it is admissible.
What is the medical diagnosis or treatment exception to hearsay?
A statement describing past or present symptoms is not hearsay if it is made for medical diagnosis or treatment. A statement of the cause or source of the condition is admissible if it is reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment. The statement need not be made to a physician nor made by the patient.
What is the 6th Amendment Confrontation Clause? How does it factor into a hearsay analysis?
Under the 6th Amendment Confrontation Clause, a criminal defendant has the right to confront any witnesses against him. An out of court testimonial statement is not admissible against a criminal defendant when the declarant is unavailable to testify unless the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the declarant.
However, a statement that is not testimonial does not violate the Confrontation Clause. In determining whether a statement is testimonial, courts look to the primary purpose of the statement. A statement which an objective witness would reasonably believe could be used later at trial is testimonial. A statement made to police with the primary purpose of helping an ongoing emergency is not.
General rule statement for relevance
All relevant evidence is admissible unless excluded by a specific rule, law, or constitutional provision. Evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make a material fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence.
What are subsequent remedial measures?
When a party takes subsequent measures that would have made the other party’s earlier injury less likely to have occurred, evidence of these subsequent measures is not admissible to prove negligence.
However, evidence of subsequent remedial measures may be admissible for another purpose (impeachment, ownership, control, feasibility).
Are settlement offers admissible?
Compromise offers made by any party are not admissible to prove the validity of a disputed claim.
They are also not admissible for impeachment by prior inconsistent statement or contradiction.
Are offers to pay medical expenses admissible?
Evidence of the payment, offer to pay, or promise to pay medical or similar expenses resulting from an injury is not admissible to prove liability for the injury.
Unlike a compromise offer, the validity or amount of a claim need not be in dispute for an offer to pay medical expenses to be inadmissible.
What is the rape shield rule?
Under the rape shield rule, evidence offered to prove the sexual behavior or predisposition of an alleged victim of sexual assault is generally inadmissible in both civil and criminal proceedings.
However, in a civil case, evidence offered to prove an alleged victim’s sexual behavior or predisposition is admissible if its probative value substantially outweighs the danger of harm to any victim and of unfair prejudice to any party.
