Prior Acts and Prior Docs

Two documentaries tell the story of Thomas Randolph, who was convicted in Nevada of murdering his sixth wife and the "hit man" he supposedly hired to kill her. HBO offers The Black Widower: The Six Wives of Thomas Randolph; Netflix has The Widower: 'Til Death Do Us Part.

The story gets its juice off the fact that three of Randolph's other prior wives died--one shot and two from cancer. Randolph was acquitted of conspiracy to kill Wife # 2 (the shooting), although convicted of tampering with one of the witnesses in that case. And the prosecution attempted to use evidence of Wife # 2 in the prosecution over Wife # 6. Here is the opinion of the Nevada Supreme Court on the case.

Neither doc is not great, as these things go. And the opinion tells a different story than the film. Still, worth watching for a couple of reasons: 1) the role of 404(b)(2) and 2) some good trial footage showing questioning of witnesses.

For Monday, October 5

Tuesday audio.

Prep the rest of Character, Bias, including the problems. As part of your reading, review the proposed revision to FRE 609 (pp. 357-58)

For Tuesday, September 29

Monday audio.

Prep all of Introduction to Impeachment, including the problems. Prep the rules and C&S reading for Character/Bias (don't worry about the problems in this section until next week).

On writing

Count me on the more formal side of this discussion.

For Monday, September 28

Tuesday audio.

Prep and review the rest of Witnesses for Monday. We will begin Impeachment on Tuesday.

Sample Preliminary Exam

Exam; Sample Answers.

I expect to distribute the Prelim Exam sometime in early October. It will consist of approximately 5-7 questions. You will have a week to complete it. It will cover the first three parts of the course--Relevancy, Witnesses, and Impeachment.

Above is the prelim exam and the sample answers from the Fall 2025 Prelim. This will give you a basic idea of the structure of the exam and what I am looking for in answers. 

For Tuesday, September 22

Tuesday audio. No class Monday. I will try to schedule two lunchtime make-ups (covering Monday and Labor Day) sometime next month.

We will finish Sexual Assault, then prep Relevance Review and all of Witnesses.