Evidence Flashcards
What are the two groups of hearsay exceptions?
(i) those that require the declarant to be unavailable and (ii) those that the availability of the declarant are immaterial
The five important hearsay exceptions requiring the declarant’s unavailability are:
(i) former testimony, (ii) statements against interest, (iii) dying declarations, (iv) statements of personal or family history, and (v) statements offered against party procuring declarant’s unavailability.
“present recollection revived” also known as “refreshing recollection”
allows a party to use a writing for the purpose of refreshing the witness’s memory on the stand
past recollection recorded exception to hearsay
a witness’s memory of an event cannot be revived by reviewing a writing made by the witness at or near the time of the event, a party may introduce the writing into evidence by reading it aloud to the jury
state of mind hearsay exception
Declarations of existing state of mind are admissible (i) when declarant’s state of mind is directly in issue, or (ii) if they are declarations of intent offered to show subsequent acts of the declarant
The testimony of a now-unavailable witness given under oath a trial, hearing, or in a deposition taken in accordance with law is admissible in a subsequent trial as long as
sufficient similarity of parties and issues so that the opportunity to develop testimony or cross-examine at the prior hearing was meaningful
statements of past bodily condition hearsay exception
Declarations of past bodily condition are admissible if made to assist in diagnosing or treating the condition
Under the Confrontation Clause, a testimonial hearsay statement will not be admitted against a defendant in a criminal case (even if it falls within a hearsay exception) unless
the declarant is unavailable, and the accused had an opportunity to cross-examine the declarant’s “testimonial” statement prior to trial.
public records exception to hearsay
Under this exception, records, reports, statements, or data compilations, in any form, of a public office or agency are admissible to the extent that they set forth: (i) The activities of the office or agency;(ii) Matters observed pursuant to a duty imposed by law (excluding police observations in criminal cases); or(iii) In civil actions and proceedings and against the government in criminal cases, factual findings (including opinions and conclusions) resulting from an investigation made pursuant to authority granted by law, unless the sources of information or other circumstances indicate lack of trustworthiness.
Judgments of felony convictions may be admitted to prove:
any fact essential to the judgment.
Prior acquittals are not admissible in a civil case under the _______________ exception.
public records
a witness’s prior consistent statement is not hearsay if offered:
(i) to rebut an express or implied charge that the witness is lying or exaggerating because of some motive, provided the prior consistent statement was made before the onset of the alleged motive to lie or exaggerate; or (ii) to rehabilitate a witness whose credibility has been impeached on some non-character ground other than a charge of recent motivation to lie or exaggerate, such as an alleged inconsistency or sensory deficiency
statements of personal or family history exception to hearsay
declarant must be a member of the family in question or otherwise intimately associated with the family
Police reports are inadmissible against
the defendant in criminal cases
The catch-all hearsay exception has three requirements:
First, the statement must have “circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness.” The statement must be more probative as to a material fact than any other evidence which the proponent can reasonably produce so that the “interests of justice” will be served by its admission. Finally, the proponent must give notice in advance of trial to the adverse party as to the nature of the statement.
