Evidence
LAW 661 Section 1
Kevin F. O'Neill
There are two required books for this course:
MUELLER & KIRKPATRICK, EVIDENCE UNDER THE RULES (8th ed. 2014) (Wolters Kluwer) (ISBN 9781454849520) (DON'T BOTHER PURCHASING THE "BIND-IN ACCESS CODE," WHATEVER THAT IS) (to save you money, I did not order the new 9th edition); and
GOODE & WELLBORN, COURTROOM EVIDENCE HANDBOOK—2018-2019 STUDENT EDITION (West) (ISBN 9781642420180) (to save you money, I did not order the new 2019-2020 edition).
Helpful, but not necessary to purchase, is ARTHUR BEST, EVIDENCE: EXAMPLES AND EXPLANATIONS (11th ed. 2018) (Wolters Kluwer) (ISBN 9781454892519).
The Syllabus for this class, plus a Course Outline that I have written for you, will be ready for downloading one week before the start of Fall classes. You will find them on my Evidence course page, which will be up and running by then on the Law School's website among the "Online Course Materials." When the Syllabus and the Course Outline are ready, I will email you the password for gaining access to my course page.
For our first class session—on Monday afternoon, August 26, commencing at 4:15 in Room 201—please open GOODE & WELLBORN (which I'll refer to as your Rules Handbook) and read Rules 611 and 612 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Then please turn to my Course Outline (pages 13-16) and read my coverage of Rules 611 and 612. At the very start of our first class session, I will show you a film clip of a courtroom scene featuring the application of those two rules. To understand what's happening in that film clip, you will need to rely on my Course Outline's coverage of Rules 611 and 612.
Focusing now on your MUELLER & KIRKPATRICK book, we'll spend our first two class sessions covering pages 4 to 42 (on What Happens at Trial and How Evidence is Admitted and Excluded). When reading those pages, please skip the unduly complex coverage of the "scope-of-direct" rule (pages 22-26) and Problem 1-A (page 26).
I look forward to seeing you on August 26.