CALIFORNIA BAR EXAM: EVIDENCE EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, RATED A+

CALIFORNIA BAR EXAM: EVIDENCE EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, RATED A+ Test for RELEVANCE - -Under Rule 401, evidence is relevant if it tends to make the existence of any fact of consequence more or less probable than it would be without the evidence. FED: Need not be in dispute CA: Must pertain to a disputed fact General Admissibility of Relevant Evidence - -Under Rule 402, relevant is admissible unless the US constiution, federal statute, FRE, or rules prescribed by the Supreme Court provide otherwise. Irrelevant evidence is not admissible. DISCRETIONARY EXCLUSION - -Under Rule 403, a court may exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, waste of time, or needless cumulative evidence. CA: Same as Federal Rule. Proposition 8 makes all relevant evidence admissible in criminal cases subject to CEC 352 balancing and a few other exceptions. LIABILITY INSURANCE - -Under Rule 411, evidence of liability insurance is not admissible to prove whether a person acted negligently or otherwise wrongfully, but it is admissible to prove another purpose such as ownership, control, or to impeach a witness. CA: Same as Federal Rule. SUBSEQUENT REMEDIAL MEASURES - -Under 407, evidence of repairs or other remedial measures taken after an injury is inadmissible to prove negligence, culpable conduct, product or design defect, or need for warning, but it is admissible to prove another purpose such as ownership, control, impeach a witness, or to rebut a defense that there was no feasible precaution. CA: Same as Federal rule except it does not apply in products liability cases. Thus, evidence that a product was redesigned is inadmissible to prove the original design was defective because it is not offered to prove negligence. SETTLEMENT OFFERS - -Under 408, evidence of offers to settle a claim disputed as to validity or amount is inadmissible to prove liability or fault. Statements made during settlement discussions are also inadmissible. CA: Same as Federal Rule. Also applies to discussions during mediation proceedings. OFFERS TO PAY MEDICAL EXPENSES - -Under 409, evidence of payments or offers to pay medical expenses is inadmissible to prove liability for the injuries in question. Accompanying admissions of fact, however, are admissible. CA: Same as Federal Rule except accompanying admissions of fact are inadmissible. WITHDRAWN GUILTY PLEAS - -Under 410, evidence of withdrawn guilty pleas, offers to plea, and related statements are inadmissible. CA: Same as Federal Rule. Whether Proposition 8 would make such evidence admissible in a criminal case is unclear. EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY - -No corresponding Federal Rule. CA: Expressions of sympathy relating to the pain, suffering, or death of an accident victim are inadmissible in civil cases. However, accompanying statements of fault are admissible. CHARACTER EVIDENCE - -Character evidence goes to the general character of a person and conveys a moral judgment. Habit evidence, by contrast, describes a person's regular response to a specific set of circumstances and conveys no moral judgment. CA: Same as Federal Rule. TYPES OF CHARACTER EVIDENCE - -1. Specific Instances of conduct (SIC) 2. Opinion Testimony (OT) 3. Reputation within the community Testimony (RT