Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Making up hockey mnenomics makes bar studying (kind of) fun

Okay, only kind of fun. But I came up with some cool ones to remember all the hearsay exceptions. These are rules in evidence that allow hearsay (out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted) to be admissible anyway. Hearsay is generally inadmissible if it is being offered for truth because it is not reliable (no chance to cross-examine the declarant or otherwise confirm if the declarant was making up the statement).

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Non-Hearsay Under the Federal Rules:
Niedermeyer Notices Incoming Crosby, Inhibits Attack
N = Non-admission
N = Not offered for truth
I = Inconsistent statement (prior) under oath
C = Consistent statement prior to rebut charge that witness is lying
I = ID (prior)
A = Admission by Party Opponent

Hearsay Exception -- Declarant is Unavailable to Testify
Unusual Flopping Dominator Stops Pucks Specially
(U stands for unavailable)
F = Former Testimony
D = Dying Declaration
S = Statement Against Interest
P = Personal/Family History
S = Statement offered against party procuring witness unavailability

Hearsay Exception -- Declarant Availability Immaterial
There are a lot of these, so 2 separate phrases needed:

#1 -- Senator Emery Prefers Punching Rival Backstops
S = State of Mind
E = Excited Utterance
P = Present Sense Impression
P = Physical condition (medical diagnosis/treatment)
R = Recorded Recollection
B = Business Records

#2 -- Palffy Always Left Rearguards Flailing
P = Public Records
A = Ancient Documents
L = Learned Treatises
R = Reputation
F = Family Records

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At this point, it's about whatever makes the boredom a little less, whatever makes the rules a little easier to remember, and whatever it takes to survive with the bar exam a mere 13 days away.

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