Relevance Flashcards
How do you establish Relevancy?
Through Direct and Circumstantial evidence
What is direct evidence?
Evidence that, if accepted as genuine or believed true would necessarily establish the point for which it is offered
What is circumstantial evidence?
Evidence, that if accepted as true, may nevertheless fail to support or establish the point simply because an alternative seems more equally or moreprobabale
What proposition of relevancy does Old Chief v. US (I) stand for?
Logical Relevancy
Issue: is the name assault “with deadly weapon” RELEVANT to a “felony possession” of a firearm charge when D admitted he was a felon, and only argues he did not possess then gun?
Otherwise: what do you gain by including the name of the felony: Assault with “deadly weapon”
Answer: Yes, because the prior assault was with a DW, the name has ANY tendency to more probably prove that Old Chief was currently possessing a gun.
What is the relevancy policy stated in Old Chief (I)
1) A defendant may not stipulate or admit his way out of the full evidentiary force of the case as the government chooses to present it
2) Narrative Richness and Story telling:
“After his prior assault with a gun, detectives found an entire cache of guns at his house.” –> sounds like he prob had a gun
–> note moral underpinnings on pp 73?
What is an Evidential Hypothesis, and when should you make one?
Use When–> Making or defending 401 objections
How: Make offer of proof
Example–> Behavior shows flight, flight shows awareness of guilt, awareness of guilt shows guilt
What on earth is………….Pragmatic Relevance?
FRE 403: Prejudice and Confusion
Evidence Excluded when: probative value is substantially outweighed by any of the listed dangers and considerations
NOTE: language here favors admissablity
Which dangers may a judge exclude relevant evidence on account of (6)
Unfair prejudice Confusing the issues Misleading the jury Undue delay Waste of time Needlessly presenting "cumulative evidence"
Which danger was at issue in State v. Chappel?
Danger: unfair prejudice
Issue: Did gross ass pictures of a dead body unfairly prejudice the jury?
Holding: Real issue was the D’s location at time of crime…….therefore the pictures had “little or no probabtive value”…..there was error
What was the standard of review of the trial courts deciison to admit the evidence in State v. Chappel?
Under FRE 403: clear abuse of discretion standard
Test: if no tendency to disprove or prove the fact, only reason anyone would want to introduce it and then have it objected to is that it prejudicial.
What issue of relevance does Old Chief (2) decide?
Background: OC (I) says that the name is logically relevant under 401…but
Issue: Although relevant, would the name “felony assault with a weapon” be unfairly prejudicial though?
Holding: Exclude due to unfair prejudice
NOTE: holding limited to when the name of a felony status for which a status is a prerequisite
What are the Old Chief (II) factors a court looked at for unfair prejudice?
1) Must look at full evidentiary context of the case
2) Value and consider other alternatives
What are the Souter Steps for Pragmatic Relevance in Old Chief?
Souter Steps
- -> is there evidence that is prejudicial?
- -> weight the probabtive value against prejudice
- -> Look to presence of alternative
How does rule 403 different in civil and criminal cases?
Shit I dono
What is the role of FRE 105: Limited Admissibility to FRE: 403?
Issue jury instructions
Redact statements
Beware: Sometimes a jury can’t disregard!
How does Limited Admissibility work with FRE 106: Remainder or/or related writings
See problem 2-G
FRE 106 is to ensure writings are introduced in the proper context
Therefore:…
When you redact a writing under FRE 105, you must not violate FRE 106
What is the “shortness of life” mean under FRE 403
Judges can exclude needlessly cumulative evidence
Who decides simple relevancy and what is the standard?
Under FRE: 401, the judge makes a finding based upon the preponderance of evidence at the time the evidence is offered
What is the role of the jury
to assess and give weight to evidence at the end of a case
What is Sufficiency and how does it differ from Weight?
Sufficiency: evidence as a whole must satisfy each standard for each element of a claim. But each item need only to increase the probability that a point is true.
Unlike weight, sufficiency is determined by the judge: was there sufficient proof to show relevancy? Was there sufficient evidence to meet the element
What is probabilistic proof? When if ever should it be used?
Probabilistic proof: using the law of probabilities to prove a point??
Only use when
People v. Collins: what are the three problems with the problem rule?
1) Probabilities are out of then air,
2) no mutual exclusivity
3) Result shows probability of these people existing, not the likelihood of a crime
When does a burden shift in probalistic proof?
1) Multiple Sufficient Causes….Summers v. Tice
2) Cases of Market Share Liability…“we didn’t make that one although we made 51%”
