The Supreme Judicial Court and its Executive Committee on Massachusetts
Evidence Law today announce the release of the 2011 edition of the
Massachusetts Guide to Evidence. The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court
recommend use of the Guide by the bench, bar, and public.
Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland stated: "I commend the members of the
executive committee for their continued commitment to excellence in updating the
highly-respected and widely-utilized Massachusetts Guide to Evidence. The Guide
is an outstanding and practical research tool that has quickly become a highly
respected and well-used source of the current Massachusetts evidence law.
Attorneys, judges, and self-represented litigants daily use the Guide in courts
throughout the Commonwealth."
The 2011 edition is the third annual edition of the Guide. It is available
without charge on the websites of the Supreme Judicial Court, Appeals Court and
Trial Court at www.mass.gov/courts/sjc/guide-to-evidence
where it can be searched and downloaded. The Official Print Edition of the 2011
edition of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence is available for purchase from
the Flaschner Judicial Institute, which is again providing a complimentary copy
to every judge in the
Commonwealth.
The
Massachusetts Guide to Evidence assembles existing Massachusetts evidence law in
an easy-to-use document organized similarly to the Federal Rules of
Evidence. The Guide includes extensive explanatory notes and citations to
pertinent authorities.
The 2011 edition of the Guide reflects developments in Massachusetts evidence
law that occurred between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010. In
addition to incorporating dozens of new opinions issued in 2010 by the Supreme
Judicial Court, the Appeals Court, and other courts, the Guide contains
substantially revised and expanded sections on topics including, among others,
the first complaint doctrine, the relationship between hearsay and the
confrontation clause, expert testimony, the authentication of pubic records, the
fair report privilege, the collateral source rule, the marital privilege, the
discharge of jurors, and the risk of inaccurate forensic
analysis.
In 2006,
the Supreme Judicial Court established a 17-member Advisory Committee to prepare
a Massachusetts Guide to Evidence at the request of the Massachusetts Bar
Association, the Boston Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial
Attorneys. In 2008, the Supreme Judicial Court appointed the
Executive Committee of the Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Evidence Law to
monitor and incorporate new legal developments and produce annual new editions
of the Guide. Appeals Court Judge R. Marc Kantrowitz, who chaired the
Advisory Committee, chairs the Executive Committee and is the editor-in-chief of
the Guide. The other members of the Executive Committee are: Hon. Peter W.
Agnes (editor), Hon. David A. Lowy (editor), Clerk of the Appeals Court Joseph
F. Stanton (reporter), Hon. Mark S. Coven, Supreme Judicial Court senior
attorney Barbara F. Berenson, New England Law Boston Professor Philip K.
Hamilton, attorney Elizabeth N. Mulvey, and Appeals Court law clerks Lydia
Edwards and Sean M. Toohey.