Hearsay Exam 3 PDF

Preview

Summary

Exam on the concepts of hearsays...

Description

12/1/2018

Study Aids Subscription | Book Preview

77 HEARSAY EXAMS Instructions For each of the fact patterns that follow, the first question asks whether the evidence is hearsay as defined in Rules 801(a)–(d) of the Federal Rules of Evidence. To signify that the evidence is hearsay answer “T.” To signify that the evidence does not fall within the definition of hearsay contained in Rules 801(a)–(d) of the Federal Rules of Evidence answer “F.” Thus if a statement, for example, is relevant as a “verbal act,” or for its “effect upon listener,” the correct answer to whether the statement is “Hearsay” is “F.” The correct answer for a statement that meets the requirements of either Rule 801(d)(1), prior statements by witness, or Rule 801(d)(2), admission by party-opponent, is also “F.” The second question with respect to each of the one hundred sets of facts asks whether the evidence is admissible pursuant to a hearsay exception contained in either Rule 803, 804 or 807 or as multiple level hearsay pursuant to Rule 805 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Of course, if the answer to the first question in the set is “F”, i.e., not hearsay, then the answer to the second question is always “T”, i.e., admissible. With respect to the residual exception, Rule 807, assume that notice has been provided. Rule 807(b), and that the requirements of Rule 807(a)(2), (3) and (4) are satisfied, i.e., concentrate solely upon whether the statement has “equivalent circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness”, Rule 807(a)(1). Assume that all necessary foundations have been offered, that the evidence is relevant, that no privilege is applicable, etc. In short, focus solely upon the hearsay issue. Appendix A contains a comprehensive textual explanation of the Federal Rules of Evidence approach to the definition of hearsay including the defining as not hearsay some but by no means all prior statements by declarants who testify at the trial or hearing, Rule 801(d)(1), and admissions of a party-opponent as set forth in Rule 801(d)(2). Appendix A is extremely useful reading for all students trying to distinguish hearsay from not hearsay out of court statements. Will contest. To prove that the testator did not like P, D calls W, who testifies that a week before he died the testator told W, “I hate P.” ___1.Hearsay? ___2.Admissible? To prove humiliation, that plaintiff heard people discussing the libelous statement about her. ___3.Hearsay? ___4.Admissible? 78 On the issue whether P thought the sky was falling, P offers to testify that he listened to a radio broadcast, purporting to be an on-the-scene news report, in which Orson Wells said, “The sky is falling.” ___5.Hearsay? ___6.Admissible? On the issue of the speed of D’s car, the police officer will testify that his speedometer read 75 m.p.h. ___7.Hearsay? ___8.Admissible? https://libproxy.law.umich.edu:2329/book/Preview?chapterUri=%2Fdata%2Fbooks%2F25650%2Fdocbook%2Fsection10.xml

1/4

12/1/2018

Study Aids Subscription | Book Preview

In a civil case involving a U.S. government charge that the captain of a U.S. flagship was careless in his approach to another ship in the Panama Canal, the U.S. notices the captain that a deposition will be taken (under oath and before a U.S. consul) in Tokyo, of a seaman on the vessel. This was done, and the captain’s attorney, though present, did not cross the seaman. The seaman stated that “the captain was blind drunk” at the time. At the civil trial, the seaman testified for the captain that “he was sober at the time.” The seaman died of a heart attack before he could be crossed. The U.S. offers the seaman’s deposition statement, taken in Tokyo. ___9.Hearsay? ___10.Admissible? To prove that a certain event occurred in the early morning, W testifies that he was in bed at the time of the event and heard his roosters crowing. ___11.Hearsay? ___12.Admissible? To prove that D committed the crime charged, P offers D’s confession made to police officers. ___13.Hearsay? ___14.Admissible? To prove the decedent believed his death was imminent, testimony that just prior to his death his doctor told him, “You have only a few minutes left.” ___15.Hearsay? ___16.Admissible? To prove the decedent believed his death was imminent, his statement “I’m going fast.” ___17.Hearsay? ___18.Admissible? 79 To prove the value of a stolen automobile, P offers a receipt for the purchase price, $10,000, signed by the dealer from whom he bought the car. ___19.Hearsay? ___20.Admissible? Action to commit a certain law professor to a mental institution. To prove that he is not in fact insane, the professor offers a letter he received by a publishing company offering him a lucrative contract to write the definitive text on the hearsay rule. ___21.Hearsay? ___22.Admissible? To show P’s entitlement to damages for pain and suffering, P calls a nurse who testifies that right after the accident P was admitted to the hospital while holding his head and repeating over and over, “my head.” ___23.Hearsay? ___24.Admissible? https://libproxy.law.umich.edu:2329/book/Preview?chapterUri=%2Fdata%2Fbooks%2F25650%2Fdocbook%2Fsection10.xml

2/4

12/1/2018

Study Aids Subscription | Book Preview

Action for personal injuries by a passenger in a car against the driver. To prove defective brakes, plaintiff offers testimony that, one hour before the accident, a mechanic told the defendant and the plaintiff, “The brakes are shot.” ___25.Hearsay? ___26.Admissible? Same case and same evidence, this time offered to prove assumption of the risk. ___27.Hearsay? ___28.Admissible? Personal injury action by P against D arising out of the breakdown of D’s roller coaster. To prove that the roller coaster was in bad condition, P testifies that just before he got on the ride, he heard a patron exiting the roller coaster say to D’s employee, “The tracks are shaking something awful today!” ___29.Hearsay? ___30.Admissible? Action for breach of warranty. To prove the warranty, the plaintiff testifies that he asked the defendant’s salesperson, “If I buy this deodorant, will it help me win the love of my life?” The salesperson nodded affirmatively. ___31.Hearsay? ___32.Admissible? 80 Negligence action by P, an injured pedestrian against D City for not placing a traffic signal at the intersection at which P was struck by a car. Following the accident D City conducted an investigation and determined that there was no need for a traffic signal at that corner. D City offers its investigators report in evidence. ___33.Hearsay? ___34.Admissible? Breach of contract action. To prove that a contract existed, P testifies that just after a meeting with D, she (P) told her secretary, “I just made a deal to sell D three hundred cases of Madonna albums!” ___35.Hearsay? ___36.Admissible? On the issue whether or not X predeceased Y, W offers to testify that shortly after Y was pronounced dead X said, “I think Y is dead.” ___37.Hearsay? ___38.Admissible? On the same issue, Z offers to testify that at the relevant time the paramedics put a sheet over X’s head and, leaving X at the scene of the accident, rushed Y to the hospital. ___39.Hearsay? ___40.Admissible? https://libproxy.law.umich.edu:2329/book/Preview?chapterUri=%2Fdata%2Fbooks%2F25650%2Fdocbook%2Fsection10.xml

3/4

12/1/2018

Study Aids Subscription | Book Preview

Prosecution of D for battery upon V. To prove that D acted in self-defense, W testifies that V had a reputation in the community as a violent person. ___41.Hearsay? ___42.Admissible? On the issue of whether the testator intended to give C property in his will (case involving probate of a lost will), the testator’s statement, made after the execution of the will, that “I left C one-half of my estate in my will.” ___43.Hearsay? ___44.Admissible? Same issue as above, but the statement is made just before the will is signed, and the statement is, “C has treated me shamefully.” ___45.Hearsay? ___46.Admissible? To prove that a certain kind of computer was useful in a law practice, a party offers evidence that the partner in charge of purchases for the practice bought twenty of the machines. 81 ___47.Hearsay? ___48.Admissible? To prove that D committed an assault, P (suing for civil damages) offers into evidence a certified copy of a prior judgment of a felony criminal conviction arising out of the same incident. ___49.Hearsay? ___50.Admissible?

https://libproxy.law.umich.edu:2329/book/Preview?chapterUri=%2Fdata%2Fbooks%2F25650%2Fdocbook%2Fsection10.xml

4/4...