PLEASE DETERMINE WHAT TYPES OF EVIDENCE THE FOLLOWING MAY BE, AND IF HEARSAY, PLEASE EXPLAIN IF THERE MAY BE AN EXCEPTION TO THE HEARSAY RULE:

 

Please determine what types of evidence the following may be, and if hearsay, please explain if there may be an exception to the hearsay rule:

A man holding a book of matches at the scene of a fire.

A person who is dead, a smoking gun on the floor, and a person standing over the deceased.

Seeing a car hitting a pedestrian.

A certified birth certificate.

An affidavit.

A receipt for prescription drugs.

“John just said that he killed Susan!”

A witness who saw that a child had a compound fracture of his leg.

An imprint of teeth marks on a person’s arm

A diary.

Exercise #18: HEARSAY
Review the following scenarios and state whether the following statements constitute hearsay.
1.
As a testifying witness in her mother’ s personal injury trial, Mary is asked whether she
talked with her mother on the day of her accident. Mary replies: “Yes, I remember because my
mother said, ‘It is supposed to snow today’ when I asked if she was going out.” Is this statement
hearsay? Why or why not. If so, is there an exception to the hearsay rule? 2.
John is trying to testify that he was working in another state when a robbery occurred in
his hometown. While on the stand, he says he was in a different state and says he can prove it.
He pulls out a gasoline receipt for that day that is from a gas station in the other state. Is hearsay
present? Why or why not? If so, is there an exception to the hearsay rule? 3.
George is testifying at the trial of a neighbor who is accused of stealing assets from his
job. George is asked whether he saw the neighbor carrying computer equipment and copying
machines into his garage. Is there hearsay present? Why or why not? If so, is there an
exception to the hearsay rule? 4.
Mary is trying to prove in court that she was born in 1944. A fire has destroyed all of the
records for the county in which she was born. On the stand, she offers a family bible as proof.
The bible has important dates handwritten in the front of the bible, including marriages, births
and deaths. Is hearsay present? Why or why not? If so, is there an exception to the hearsay
rule? 5.
Susan is testifying at trial that when she inherited stocks from her parents thirty years
earlier, the stocks were virtually worthless. While on the stand, she offers an old stock market
quotation from thirty years earlier as proof. Is this hearsay? Why or why not? If so, is there an
exception to the hearsay rule? 68 6.
Eric is testifying at the trial of Manny. Manny is being accused of assaulting his
girlfriend and is claiming his actions were in self-defense. Eric testifies that Manny’ s girlfriend,
just before the fighting began, had said, “I’m so mad, I could kill you right now.” Is Eric’s
testimony likely to be ruled as hearsay? Why or why not? If so, is there an exception to the
hearsay rule?
~ 7.
Sheila is testifying at the trial of her sister Kayla. Kayla is being accused of the
attempted murder of Kendall. While on the stand, Sheila testified that Kayla told her prior to her
arrest: “next time I am going to take gun classes, and I am not going to be such a poor shot.” Is
hearsay present? Why or why not? If so, is there an exception to the hearsay rule? 8.
Connie is testifying at the trial of Jim who is accused of burglarizing her home. While on
the stand, she is asked what was stolen from her home. She pulls a list out of her purse that she
had made for police a few days after the incident, and begins reading it out loud. Is there
hearsay present? Why or why not? If so, is there an exception to the hearsay rule? 9.
·Sarah was a back seat passenger in a car driven by a drunk driver. She is testifying on
behalf of one of the persons injured by the drunk driver. On the stand, Sarah testifies that her
friend, Wendy, who was seated next to the driver, stated just prior to the collision, “you are too
drunk to drive and you are driving way too fast.” Is hearsay present? Why or why not? If so, is
there an exception to the hearsay rule? 10.