Trial Evidence 2011: Advocacy, Analysis, & Illustrations

Abstract

Relevance, unfair prejudice, character evidence, and hearsay are the four cornerstones of trial evidence. These principles have governed Anglo-American law for centuries, but they continue to evolve. New legal claims and courtroom disputes will similarly reshape evidentiary rules in the years to come. This article reviews fundamental evidentiary principles as well as recent developments in evidence law, concentrating on the Federal Rules of Evidence, and where applicable, comparing the Federal Rules of Evidence to New York State evidentiary rules.

Notably, many of New York’s evidence principles mirror the Federal Rules. However, New York is one of the relatively few states that does not have an evidence code; most New York evidence law derives from decisions of the New York courts. While mainly similar, there are some differences between federal evidence law and New York evidence law that are also analyzed by the authors.

Keywords: evidentiary rules, Federal Rules of Evidence, New York evidence law, character evidence, prejudice, relevance, hearsay