FREV97.ZRL Misc.

[cou...@usenet.ins.cwru.edu]

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

April 11, 1997

ORDERED:

1.That the Federal Rules of Evidence be, and they hereby are,
amended by including therein amendments to Evidence Rules 407, 801,
803(24), 804(b)(5), and 806, and new Rules 804(b)(6) and 807.

[See infra., pp. _____ _____ _____.]

2.That the foregoing amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence
shall take effect on December 1, 1997, and shall govern in all proceedings
thereafter commenced and, insofar as just and practicable, all proceedings then
pending.

3.That THE CHIEF JUSTICE be, and hereby is, authorized to
transmit to the Congress the foregoing amendments to the Federal Rules of
Evidence in accordance with the provisions of Section 2072 of Title 28, United
States Code.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE
FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 407. Subsequent Remedial Measures

When, after an injury or harm allegedly caused by
an event, measures are taken that, if taken previously,
would have made the injury or harm less likely to occur,
evidence of the subsequent measures is not admissible to
prove negligence, culpable conduct, a defect in a product,
a defect in a product's design, or a need for a warning or
instruction.

* * * * *

Rule 801. Definitions
* * * * *
(d)Statements which are not hearsay.
* * * * *
(2)Admission by party-opponent. The
statement is offered against a party and is
(A) the party's own statement, in either an
individual or a representative capacity or
(B) a statement of which the party has
manifested an adoption or belief in its
truth, or (C) a statement by a person
authorized by the party to make a
statement concerning the subject, or (D) a
statement by the party's agent or servant
concerning a matter within the scope of the
agency or employment, made during the
existence of the relationship, or (E) a
statement by a coconspirator of a party
during the course and in furtherance of the
conspiracy. The contents of the statement
shall be considered but are not alone
sufficient to establish the declarant's
authority under subdivision (C), the agency
or employment relationship and scope
thereof under subdivision (D), or the
existence of the conspiracy and the
participation therein of the declarant and
the party against whom the statement is
offered under subdivision (E).

Rule 803.Hearsay Exceptions; Availability of
Declarant Immaterial

* * * * *

(24)[Transferred to Rule 807]
Rule 804. Hearsay Exceptions; Declarant
Unavailable
* * * * *
(b)Hearsay exceptions.
* * * * *
(5)[Transferred to Rule 807]
(6)Forfeiture by wrongdoing. A statement
offered against a party that has engaged or
acquiesced in wrongdoing that was intended to,
and did, procure the unavailability of the
declarant as a witness.
Rule 806.Attacking and Supporting Credibility
of Declarant

When a hearsay statement, or a statement defined
in Rule 801(d)(2)(C), (D), or (E), has been admitted in
evidence, the credibility of the declarant may be attacked,
and if attacked may be supported, by any evidence which
would be admissible for those purposes if declarant had
testified as a witness. Evidence of a statement or
conduct by the declarant at any time, inconsistent with
the declarant's hearsay statement, is not subject to any
requirement that the declarant may have been afforded
an opportunity to deny or explain. If the party against
whom a hearsay statement has been admitted calls the
declarant as a witness, the party is entitled to examine
the declarant on the statement as if under cross-
examination.

Rule 807. Residual Exception

A statement not specifically covered by Rule 803
or 804 but having equivalent circumstantial guarantees
of trustworthiness, is not excluded by the hearsay rule,
if the court determines that (A) the statement is offered
as evidence of a material fact; (B) the statement is more
probative on the point for which it is offered than any
other evidence which the proponent can procure through
reasonable efforts; and (C) the general purposes of these
rules and the interests of justice will best be served by
admission of the statement into evidence. However, a
statement may not be admitted under this exception
unless the proponent of it makes known to the adverse
party sufficiently in advance of the trial or hearing to
provide the adverse party with a fair opportunity to
prepare to meet it, the proponent's intention to offer the
statement and the particulars of it, including the name
and address of the declarant.