Evidence Flashcards

During a personal injury trial, plaintiff offers evidence that the defendant store installed new handrails on its staircase two weeks after plaintiff's fall. Defendant claims the staircase was perfectly safe. The evidence of the new handrails is:

Answer: Admissible to impeach defendant's claim that no safer design was feasible, if defendant controverts feasibility

Subsequent remedial measures are inadmissible to prove negligence or defect, but may be admitted for other purposes such as feasibility of precautionary measures if controverted.

A witness in a Kentucky criminal trial testifies for the defense. On cross-examination, the prosecutor asks about the witness's 12-year-old felony conviction for theft; the witness was released from confinement 11 years ago. This conviction is:

Answer: Admissible only if its probative value substantially outweighs its prejudicial effect and the proponent gave advance written notice

Convictions more than 10 years old (measured from conviction or release, whichever is later) are admissible only if probative value substantially outweighs prejudice and advance notice is given.

In a prosecution for assault, the defendant offers testimony that the alleged victim has a reputation in the community for violence, to show the victim was the first aggressor. This evidence is:

Answer: Admissible because a criminal defendant may offer a pertinent character trait of the victim

A criminal defendant may introduce reputation or opinion evidence of a pertinent character trait of the victim, such as violence, to support a first-aggressor theory.

A plaintiff in a car accident case offers a properly authenticated hospital record containing the notation: 'Patient states the other driver ran the red light.' The statement about the red light is:

Answer: Inadmissible hearsay because fault attribution is not pertinent to diagnosis or treatment

Statements of fault, such as who ran a red light, are generally not pertinent to diagnosis or treatment and remain inadmissible hearsay even inside a business record.

During settlement negotiations over a disputed contract claim, the defendant said, 'I know I owe you something; let's settle for half.' At trial, plaintiff offers this statement. It is:

Answer: Inadmissible because statements made in compromise negotiations of a disputed claim are excluded to prove liability

Both offers to compromise and statements made during compromise negotiations of a disputed claim are inadmissible to prove liability or the amount of the claim.

A police officer testifies that a bystander, still visibly shaking and crying moments after a shooting, shouted, 'The man in the red jacket shot him!' The bystander is unavailable at trial. The statement is:

Answer: Admissible as an excited utterance

A statement relating to a startling event, made while the declarant was still under the stress of excitement it caused, is admissible as an excited utterance regardless of availability.

In a Kentucky civil trial, a party seeks to prove the contents of a written lease by having a witness testify from memory about its terms. The original lease exists and is available. This testimony is:

Answer: Inadmissible under the best evidence rule because the contents of a writing are being proved and no excuse for nonproduction exists

When a party seeks to prove the contents of a writing, the original (or a duplicate) must be produced unless its absence is satisfactorily explained.