Evidence Flashcards

Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, hearsay is defined as an out-of-court statement offered to prove:

Answer: The truth of the matter asserted

FRE 801 defines hearsay as an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the statement.

Prior consistent statements of a witness are admissible as non-hearsay under FRE 801(d)(1)(B) when offered to:

Answer: Rehabilitate the witness after a charge of recent fabrication or improper influence

FRE 801(d)(1)(B) allows prior consistent statements to rehabilitate a witness whose testimony has been attacked as recently fabricated or improperly influenced.

The excited utterance exception to hearsay requires that the statement:

Answer: Relate to a startling event while the declarant was under the stress of excitement caused by it

FRE 803(2) requires that the statement relate to a startling event and be made while the declarant was still under the stress of excitement from that event.

Character evidence offered to show that a person acted in conformity with that character on a particular occasion is generally:

Answer: Inadmissible under FRE 404(a)

FRE 404(a) prohibits using character evidence to prove that a person acted in conformity with that character trait on the occasion in question.

Lay witness opinion testimony is admissible under FRE 701 if the opinion is:

Answer: Rationally based on the witness's perceptions, helpful to the trier of fact, and not based on specialized knowledge

FRE 701 permits lay opinion when it is rationally grounded in personal perception, helpful to the factfinder, and does not stray into specialized expert knowledge.

The best evidence rule requires the original document to prove its contents unless:

Answer: The original is lost or destroyed without bad faith, unavailable, or a collateral matter

FRE 1002-1004 allow secondary evidence when the original is genuinely lost, unavailable through no bad faith, or when the document is collateral to the main issue.