One Recording, Two Exceptions

Revised stem

At a private Christian arts fair, Martha sued Galilee Props for damage to her antique handbell table after an animatronic camel rolled off its display track and smashed into the table. At trial, Martha called Stephen, who testified that he watched the camel roll past him and, as it was still moving away, accurately dictated the camel's rental tag number into his properly operating phone voice recorder. Stephen has stated that he no longer remembers the tag number. May the audio recording be played?

Answer flow

01 Start with the offered audio recording.

02 Ask whether it describes the event while or immediately after Stephen perceived it.

03 Mark present sense impression: yes.

04 Ask whether Stephen once knew the tag number.

05 Use his current memory failure and accurate fresh recording.

06 Mark recorded recollection: yes.

07 Cut the two only answers and the no-exception answer.

08 Choose D.

A / trap

tiered absolute / recorded-recollection-only trap

Yes, as a recorded recollection only.

A sees the memory failure and accurate fresh recording. The defect is the word only, because the recording also describes the event while Stephen was perceiving it.

B / trap

flat misstatement / exception-blind denial

No, because it is hearsay not within any exception.

B correctly senses hearsay, but hearsay status starts the analysis. The recording falls within two Rule 803 exceptions.

C / trap

tiered absolute / present-sense-only trap

Yes, as a present sense impression only.

C sees the immediate description of the event. The defect is the word only, because Stephen's later memory failure and accurate fresh recording also satisfy recorded recollection.

D / correct

residue / overlapping hearsay exceptions

Yes, as a present sense impression and as a recorded recollection.

D grades both exceptions separately. The recording was made while Stephen perceived the event and also meets the recorded-recollection foundation.

C3 locks

Red axis: A single recorded statement can satisfy more than one hearsay exception.

Purple profile: The traps force a false choice between present sense impression and recorded recollection.

Blue signal: Stephen recorded the tag while watching the event and later could not remember it.

Orange repair: Student habit to repair: treating answer-choice exclusivity as true before testing both exception elements.

Reusable keys

Gold Key / GK-EVIDENCE-OVERLAPPING-803-EXCEPTIONS-01
Hearsay exceptions can overlap; if the same statement satisfies two exceptions, choose the answer that keeps both.

Silver Key / SK-EVIDENCE-COMBINATION-ARRAY-01
In an only/only/both/neither answer set, grade each proposed exception separately before choosing.

Trap Key / TK-EVIDENCE-ONLY-WORD-OVERCLAIM
The word only is wrong when another valid exception also covers the statement.

LeadMe steps

01 Identify the statement: Stephen's recorded tag number.

02 Check present sense impression.

03 Use the fact that Stephen dictated while the camel was moving away.

04 Check recorded recollection.

05 Use the fresh, accurate recording and Stephen's current memory failure.

06 Reject present-sense-only.

07 Reject recorded-recollection-only.

08 Pick D.

Drill seeds