Evidence
LAW 661 Section 1
Kevin F. O'Neill
There are two required books for this course:
MUELLER, KIRKPATRICK & RICHTER, EVIDENCE UNDER THE RULES (9th ed. 2019) (Wolters Kluwer) (ISBN 9781454899686) (don't bother purchasing the "access code," whatever that is; just buy the book); and
GOODE & WELLBORN, COURTROOM EVIDENCE HANDBOOK—2022-2023 STUDENT EDITION (West) (ISBN 9781636599250).
The Syllabus for this class is attached to this posting. Also attached is my Course Outline.
For our first class session—on Tuesday morning, August 23, commencing at 8:45 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. 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 help you understand what's happening in that film clip, please read pages 15-18 of my Course Outline, which provides a short explication of Rules 611 and 612.
Focusing now on your MUELLER & KIRKPATRICK book, we'll spend our first two class sessions covering pages 4 to 41 (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 22-25) and Problem 1-A (pages 25-26).
Whenever I give you a reading assignment in MUELLER & KIRKPATRICK, I will also give you a parallel reading assignment in my Course Outline. For our first two days of class, please read pages 4 to 30 of my Course Outline.
Finally, please read my Syllabus. It will tell you how I plan to teach this course and what topics I'll be covering.
My course web page is now up and running. It is NOT on Blackboard. Instead, you'll find it among the "Online Course Materials" on the Cleveland-Marshall website. Here is the password for gaining access to it: 661oneill22.
I look forward to seeing you on August 23 at 8:45 in Room 201.