Firsthand Knowledge Cures Hearsay
This trap appears as a wrong-answer choice in 1 active question. Spotting how it is built is the repair: read each example's “why it's attractive” before the “why it's wrong.”
Subject distribution
- Evidence1
Example wrong choices
14798_fair_alley · EVIDENCE · Choice BYes, because it is an excerpt from a public agency's report offered in a civil case.
Why it's attractive
Student maps 'public record + civil case = admissible' and forgets the multi-layer requirement. C3 move: when a statement has TWO layers, BOTH must independently fit an exception; one layer fitting does not save the other.
Why it's wrong
Student maps 'public record + civil case = admissible' and forgets the multi-layer requirement. C3 move: when a statement has TWO layers, BOTH must independently fit an exception; one layer fitting does not save the other.
14798_fair_alley · EVIDENCE · Choice CNo, unless the entire report is also introduced into evidence.
Why it's attractive
Student thinks completeness cures hearsay. It does not. The inner statement remains out-of-court and offered for the truth; no exception covers it. Adding the surrounding context does not satisfy FRE 805.
Why it's wrong
Student thinks completeness cures hearsay. It does not. The inner statement remains out-of-court and offered for the truth; no exception covers it. Adding the surrounding context does not satisfy FRE 805.
14798_fair_alley · EVIDENCE · Choice DYes, because the eyewitness had firsthand knowledge of the incident.
Why it's attractive
Student remembers FRE 602 personal knowledge and conflates it with the hearsay rule. C3 move: hearsay is about the out-of-court declarant being unavailable for cross-examination, NOT about the declarant's personal knowledge.
Why it's wrong
Student remembers FRE 602 personal knowledge and conflates it with the hearsay rule. C3 move: hearsay is about the out-of-court declarant being unavailable for cross-examination, NOT about the declarant's personal knowledge.
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