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A few months ago, the Los Angeles Times ran a story about a lawsuit recently filed against Steven Tyler. The plaintiff alleges she met the Aerosmith frontman backstage in 1973, and she chronicles their relationship that evening and thereafter. According to the plaintiff, Tyler talked her into joining him on the road (after she finished her sophomore year in high school) and "persuaded [her] into believing this was a 'romantic love affair.'" The complaint is remarkably detailed given the...

Beyond knowing the mechanics of the rules of evidence, effective advocates use the rules as weapons of persuasion. And like any legal doctrine, spotting the key issue is essential—even if it's not the most obvious. There's reference to an out-of-court statement? Many lawyers jump straight to a hearsay analysis. But with hearsay having so many exceptions, the most obvious objection may not be the most effective. What about relevance? What about foundation? 

Suppose you had to prove (in litigation) where you were on a specific date. And suppose you had zero independent memory of where you were. There are a number of things you could do to jog your memory. You could look at your phone to see if there are any pictures from that date. You could look at old text messages, emails, or calendar entries to see if they provide some reminder of where you were on the date in question. Now let's suppose you found a cryptic text exchange with a friend...

When it comes the rules of evidence, there can be a big difference between a "policy" and a "habit" (or "custom," when it comes to a business entity). A decent (albeit nonlegal) illustration of the difference is the late Howie Sugden.* Howie had a policy of fighting anyone during pickup hockey games who, in his opinion, "played cheap." So while there was a decent chance his gloves might come off whenever he took the ice, it wasn't necessarily guaranteed. But when it came...

Referring to the "best evidence rule" in California litigation is a little like calling The Cosby Show the most family-friendly option on television. While there was a time that such assertions were valid, saying so today just sounds uninformed and out of touch. The best evidence rule ended up having so many exceptions that it was abrogated and replaced by the "secondary evidence rule," codified in California Evidence Code section 1521, et seq. The vast majority of...

When viewers tune into VH1's Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party these days, most may not know (or have forgotten) that Martha Stewart served five months in prison for lying to federal investigators. The case involved Stewart's sale of 3,928 ImClone shares on December 27, 2001. That day Stewart's broker, Peter Bacanovic of Merrill Lynch, was on vacation when he received a call from his assistant, Douglas Faneuil. Faneuil told him that Sam Waksal, the chairman of...

Many of us have vivid memories of the O.J. Simpson criminal trial. Judge Ito became a household name. Millions watched Simpson struggle to try on the famous gloves, and many of us remember where we were the moment the verdict was read. What is slightly less well known is the civil trial against Simpson—following his acquittal—for the wrongful deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson ("Nicole") and Ronald Goldman. The jury found Simpson liable, and...

A prior article examined the business records exception to the hearsay rule, and it specifically looked at the language and case treatment of Evidence Code section 1271. This post explores the application of Section 1271 to business records that are common in litigation: third party records, medical records, and investigation reports.    

Third Party Records (e.g., Third Party Invoices): The elements of Section 1271 suggest that third party documents...