Evidence—Mini Outline

Ordered by weight: relevancy is the single biggest category (~⅓), then presentation/impeachment and hearsay (~¼ each). Every piece of evidence runs the gates: relevant? competent? properly presented?

1. Relevancy & its limits

• Logical relevance (401): any tendency to make a material fact more or less probable. Relevant evidence is admissible unless a rule excludes it.
• 403 balancing: exclude if probative value is substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice, confusion, misleading the jury, or waste of time.
• Public-policy exclusions: subsequent remedial measures, settlement offers/negotiations, plea discussions, offers to pay medical expenses, and liability insurance—inadmissible to prove fault, admissible for other purposes.
• Character evidence: generally inadmissible to prove propensity. Criminal defendants may "open the door" to a pertinent trait; the prosecution then rebuts. MIMIC (404(b)): specific acts admissible for motive, intent, absence of mistake, identity, or common plan. Civil cases: character only when it's an essential element. Habit is admissible to prove conduct.

2. Presentation, impeachment & witnesses

• Introduction: personal knowledge, refreshing recollection, objections/offers of proof, judicial notice, and limited admissibility (limiting instructions).
• Competency & opinion: witnesses need personal knowledge and an oath. Lay opinion must be rationally based on perception and helpful; expert opinion needs a qualified expert, sufficient facts, reliable methods reliably applied, helpful to the trier (Daubert).
• Impeachment: prior inconsistent statements, bias/interest, sensory defects, reputation/opinion for untruthfulness, prior convictions (609) (dishonesty crimes automatic; other felonies balanced), and bad acts (608(b)) probative of truthfulness (cross only, no extrinsic evidence). Rehabilitation mirrors the attack.

3. Hearsay

• Definition: an out-of-court statement offered for the truth of the matter asserted. Offered for another purpose (notice, effect on the listener, state of mind, verbal act/legally operative words) → not hearsay.
• Exclusions (not hearsay by rule): an opposing party's own statement (including adoptive, authorized, agent, and co-conspirator statements); and certain prior statements of a testifying witness (prior inconsistent statements under oath, prior consistent statements to rebut, and identifications).
• Exceptions—declarant unavailable: former testimony, dying declarations, statements against interest, and statements of personal/family history.
• Exceptions—availability immaterial: present sense impression, excited utterance, then-existing mental/emotional/physical condition, statements for medical diagnosis/treatment, recorded recollection, business records, public records, and learned treatises.
• Confrontation Clause: in a criminal case, testimonial hearsay is barred unless the declarant is unavailable and the defendant had a prior chance to cross-examine.

4. Privileges & policy exclusions

• Attorney-client (confidential communications for legal advice; survives death; crime-fraud exception), spousal (testimonial privilege and the confidential-marital-communications privilege), physician/psychotherapist-patient, and clergy.

5. Writings, authentication & the best evidence rule

• Authentication: evidence must be shown to be what its proponent claims (testimony, distinctive characteristics, self-authenticating documents).
• Best evidence rule: to prove the contents of a writing, recording, or photo, produce the original (or a duplicate), or explain its absence.