Evidence Flashcards

A plaintiff in a slip-and-fall case offers evidence that the store installed warning signs the day after her fall to prove the store was negligent. Is this evidence admissible for that purpose?

Answer: No, subsequent remedial measures are inadmissible to prove negligence

Rule 407 bars evidence of subsequent remedial measures to prove negligence or culpable conduct, though it may be admitted for other purposes like ownership or feasibility if disputed.

A witness cannot recall the license plate number she reported to police right after a hit-and-run. The prosecutor shows her the police report, but her memory is not refreshed. She testified she accurately reported the number when it was fresh in her mind. How may the number come in?

Answer: Read into evidence as past recollection recorded, but the document itself is not admitted as the proponent's exhibit

Under the recorded recollection exception, a qualifying record may be read to the jury but received as an exhibit only if offered by the adverse party.

A defendant charged with arson offers evidence that he refused to plead guilty during plea discussions and statements he made to the prosecutor during those discussions are offered against him by the State. Are the plea-discussion statements admissible?

Answer: No, statements made during plea discussions with the prosecuting attorney are inadmissible

Rule 410 excludes withdrawn guilty pleas, nolo pleas, and statements made in plea discussions with the prosecuting authority that did not result in a guilty plea.

At trial, a party seeks to prove the contents of a written contract by having a witness testify to its terms from memory, though the original contract exists and is available. Is the testimony proper?

Answer: No, the best evidence rule requires the original or an excuse for its absence

The best evidence rule requires the original writing (or a duplicate) when proving its contents unless the original is shown to be lost, destroyed, or otherwise unobtainable.

A defendant in a sexual assault prosecution seeks to introduce evidence of the victim's prior sexual conduct with third parties to suggest consent. Under the rape shield rule, is this generally admissible?

Answer: No, evidence of a victim's sexual behavior with others is generally inadmissible, subject to narrow exceptions

Rape shield provisions generally bar evidence of a victim's other sexual behavior, allowing only narrow exceptions such as proving an alternative source of physical evidence or prior conduct with the accused.

A trial judge in South Carolina takes judicial notice that Columbia is the capital of South Carolina in a civil case. What is the effect of that notice on the jury?

Answer: The jury must accept the noticed fact as conclusive in a civil case

In civil cases, a judicially noticed fact is conclusive and the jury must accept it, whereas in criminal cases the jury may but is not required to accept it.

An expert witness for the plaintiff bases her opinion on inadmissible hearsay reports that experts in her field reasonably rely upon. May she give her opinion?

Answer: Yes, an expert may rely on inadmissible facts if reasonably relied upon by experts in the field

Experts may base opinions on otherwise inadmissible facts or data if of a type reasonably relied upon by experts in the particular field, though the underlying data is not thereby admitted.