美国纽约州律师资格考试复习笔记 证据法.docVIP

Evidence (33 Qs) Issues identified in practice: Judicial notice: 司法认知 generally known in the jurisdiction or capable of ready and accurate determination; in civil case, conclusively established (mandatory) ; and, in criminal, may be taken by jury (discretionary) Impeachment by character for untruthfulness (reputation/opinion, bad act, prior conviction) (rehabilitation In civil fraud case, prior fraud is permitted either for character evidence (??) or for proving intent Business records: judge may exclude business records if (i) source of information lacks truthfulness, (ii) no first-hand knowledge, (iii) purposed to prove what happened or not (for potential litigation) (note: this item (iii) is okay in NY) Dying declaration: in criminal case, victim must die because dying declaration is admissible only in homicide case (if victim is not dead, no homicide case). Watch for attempted murder Mini Review: Character evidence Criminal case: Prosecutor can’t introduce bad character for the purpose of proving action in conformity with character; D is allowed to introduce good character to prove he acted in conformity with good character; If D provided good character evidence, Prosecutor is allowed to show bad character evidence (reputation and opinion) and cross-examination of character witness by means of intrinsic evidence of “specific act” Evidence of other crimes are inadmissible for conformity purpose, but likely admissible for MIMIC purpose; If D takes the stand, P may impeach D with character evidence of untruthfulness. Civil case: You can’t introduce character evidence to show conformity; Character evidence may be introduced for other purposes, such as negligent hiring/entrustment, defamation, fraud, and MIMIC…; Watch for the difference between character evidence and habit evidence. Impeachment Prior inconsistent statement Extrinsic evidence allowed Impeached witness must be given opportunity to comment, before or after the offer of such extrinsic evidence Bias Ex