Evidence - Other Topics

Question 1

What is judicial notice of fact?

Answer 1

Judicial notice is the recognition of a fact as true without formal presentation of evidence.

Question 2

What types of fats are appropriate for judicial notice?

Answer 2

Indisputable facts that are either matters of common knowledge in the community or capable of verification by resort to easily accessible sources of unquestionable accuracy.

Court can take judicial notice on its own accord.

Question 3

Are judicially noticed facts conclusive under the FRE?

Answer 3

Civil cases - Yes

Criminal Cases - No, jury is instructed that it may, but is not required to, accept as conclusive any judicially noticed fact.

Question 4

Adjudicative vs. Legislative Facts

Answer 4

Adjudicative - those relating to the case

Legislative - Related to legal reasoning and lawmaking.

Legislative do not need to meet the common knowledge or indisputable verification to be judicially noticed.

Question 5

Mandatory vs. Permissive judicial notice of the law

Answer 5

Mandatory - Must take judicial notice of federal and state laws/regulations

Permissible - May take judicial notice of municipal ordinances and private acts or resolutions of Congress/state legislatures, foreign countries laws.

Question 6

What is the proper procedure for authentication of real evidence?

Answer 6

Object must be identified as what the proponent claims it to be, either by:

(a) Testimony of a W that she recognizes the object as what the proponent claims it is; OR
(b) Evidence that object has been held in a substantially unbroken chain of possession.

Question 7

See pgs. 44-46 in CMR for Procedural Considerations

Answer 7

N/A