For Tuesday, September 3

Tuesday audio. You hopefully now have a sense of how the problems will go and how you should prepare. 

No class next week or on Monday, September 2 (Labor Day); our next meeting will be Tuesday, September 3.

We continue with Introduction to Relevancy; prepare the remaining problems in this section. What does it mean to say "every fact has two faces" and how does that affect evidentiary strategy? Begin reviewing the MacIntrye case file, ready to identify the basic issues, claims, and defenses at issue. 

Then move to Character Evidence and Bad Acts. For next class, prep FRE 105, 404(a), and FRE 405, problems 15-17, and C&S 69-89. Consider: What is character evidence and why do we not want it admitted in judicial proceedings? What character judgments do you make in life and why don't we allow similar judgments in judicial proceedings?

For Tuesday

Monday audio. Very nice first day.

I will circulate a seating chart tomorrow; please try to keep the room reasonably balanced. We will spend the first few minutes tomorrow on the Syllabus.

We move to Relevance: Introduction to Relevance, with special attention to FRE 401-403. What are the elements of relevancy and what do those terms mean? What does "more probable than without" mean and what does it not mean? What does FRE 403 require and how does it interact with FRE 401? What is the difference between asking about the "weight" of evidence and about the "admissiblity" (or "relevance") of evidence? Become familiar with Mitchell and prep Questions #3-6 (that is as far as we will get). We will do the remaining questions and move on in the next class.