Rules of evidence are, as the name indicates, the rules by which a court determines what evidence is admissible at trial. In the U.S., federal courts follow the Federal Rules of Evidence.

This series of Federal Rules books, consisting of the Federal Rules of Evidence, Criminal Procedure and Civil Procedure,  are powered by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, and created in partnership with The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI). You may download the books for free, but remember that publishing these books is not free for our organizations.

This text is designed for use in a Evidence course as a stand-alone chapter. Specifically, this material covers FRE 410. Federal Rule of Evidence 410 was an attempt to codify common law precedent finding that withdrawn guilty pleas, pleas of nolo contendere, and offers to plead guilty and nolo contendere were inadmissible against an accused.

12,900 Words, 38 Pages in PDF

Published 2013

This chapter on Propensity Character Evidence under Rule 404 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, is part of a continuing series of chapters written by the author exploring topics in evidence. The chapter is intended for law students and faculty to use in their Evidence course.

8,800 Words, 31 Pages in PDF

Published 2013

The Best Evidence Rule, contained in Article X of the Federal Rules of Evidence (Rules 1001-1008) and state counterparts, is a Rule that requires a party seeking to prove the contents of a writing, recording, or photograph to produce the original (or a duplicate) or account for its nonproduction. Through a series of cases and hypotheticals drawn from actual cases, this chapter gives readers a roadmap for how to address any Best Evidence Rule issue in practice.

The anti-jury impeachment rule, contained in Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b) and state counterparts, is a rule preventing the admission of jury testimony or statements in connection with an inquiry into the validity of the verdict, subject to certain exceptions. Through a series of cases and hypotheticals drawn from actual cases, this chapter gives readers a roadmap for how to address any jury impeachment issue in practice.

10,682 Words in PDF, 35 Pages in PDF

Published April 2014

The Rape Shield Rule, contained in Federal Rule of Evidence 412 and state counterparts is a Rule preventing the admission of evidence concerning the sexual predisposition and behavior of an alleged victim of sexual misconduct, subject to certain exceptions. Through a series of cases and hypotheticals drawn from actual cases, this chapter gives readers a roadmap for how to address any Rape Shield Rule issue in practice. 

This material is about Federal Rule of Evidence 609: Impeachment by Evidence of Criminal Conviction. The goal of the party in impeaching a witness is to use the witness’s prior conviction(s) to prove that the witness has a propensity to be deceitful and that the witness is likely acting in conformity with that propensity by lying on the witness stand and/or when making a prior statement admitted at trial to prove the truth of the matter asserted. This material will enable the student to understand FRE 609. 

14,265 Words, 52 Pages PDF

Published 2013

This volume collects six previously released chapters from Professor Miller in the area of Evidence. The individual chapters are available in several formats, including eBook, and PDF. Please see the individual listing for each chapter for details about ordering a print copy or downloading a PDF or Word file of a single chapter. 

Faculty should visit the page for each individual chapter to download the Teacher's Manual where available. 

58,678 Words, 191 Pages PDF

Published 2013