Presented by renowned CLE presenter & seasoned trial attorney Michael DeBlis III, this second part of a four-part series continues to focuses on one of the most challenging & crucial areas of law for trial attorneys – the Federal Rules of Evidence and its application in the courtroom.
In this installment of Mike’s comprehensive Evidence series, he finishes discussing relevance, covers competence and begins discussing witness & testimonial evidence. The main topics covered will be: character evidence in criminal cases, tips for approaching MIMIC evidence, writings & the Best Evidence Rule (BER), competency and lay opinion testimony & expert opinion testimony. Mike will delve into these specific topics: the victim’s character in self-defense & sexual misconduct cases, specific instances of prior misconduct by the accused, MIMIC Evidence (Motive, Intent, Modus Operandi, Identity, Common Plan), the definition of a “writing,” legally operative documents, the approach for analyzing a BER question, public records, voluminous documents, duplicates, FRE 601, the Minimum Competency Test, personal knowledge & oath, leading questions, witness use of writings in aid of testimony, refreshing recollection, recorded recollection, admissibility & scope of lay opinion testimony, the 4 requirements for expert opinion and learned treatises.
Michael is a partner in the boutique law firm of DeBlis Law where he specializes in tax compliance and entertainment law. As a former public defender, he has spent nearly eight years cutting his teeth on some of the most serious felony cases to pass through the state courts of New Jersey.