Texas Rules of Evidence Trial Book - 2nd Edition

This work is written for lawyers and district judges who try cases in Texas courts. It is a trial book, designed to ease the task of dealing with evidence issues under the time constraints and pressures that trials, especially jury trials, place on all participants. The authors emphasize the proper techniques for presenting and objecting to evidence at trial. Common evidence issues are arranged by the order of the Texas Rules of Evidence. Lawyers in both civil and criminal trials should be able to turn quickly to the correct section of this book dealing with any evidence issue that arises during trial. They will find guidance as to who bears the burden of proof on the issue, what the judge s role is, and what type of finding for the record they might request. Judges will find similar guidance and will also find proposed findings that can help them make a solid record, and limiting instructions that can enable them quickly and accurately to instruct a jury in most cases This book focuses on the mechanics of how lawyers and judges must deal with evidence issues as they arise at trial and is a highly practical work that is intended to be on counsel tables and judges benches during trials. Governing Rules The discussion of each evidence issue begins with a section on Governing Rules. This section gathers the rules that interrelate in one place and highlights the portions of the rules that are most likely to be important. Key Points The second section is entitled Key Points. This section identifies important aspects of the governing rules, offers strategic suggestions on how lawyers may best use the governing rules, and suggests points judges may want to emphasize. Sample Objections The third section includes sample objections and guidance on making objections at trial. Rulings on the Record, Offers of Proof, and Limiting Instructions The fourth section suggests language that judges may use in making rulings and instructing juries and also recommends that lawyers consider requesting certain rulings on the record. It also suggests how offers of proof might be made and limiting instructions for all of the issues discussed. Rules of Evidence The Appendices include the full text of the Texas Rules of Evidence and several important provisions from the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure that are cited in the text.

David A. Schlueter is the Hardy Professor of Law and Director of Advocacy Programs at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. Professor Schlueter teaches evidence, trial advocacy, and constitutional law and has served as both a trial and appellate counsel. He has authored, co-authored, or edited nine books and numerous articles on evidence and criminal procedure including Texas Rules of Evidence Manual, 8th ed. (New York: Juris Publishing, 2009). His writings have been cited over 850 times by both state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States, and legal commentators. Before joining the faculty at St. Mary's in 1983, he served on active duty as an Army JAGC and for two years as legal counsel for the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a life fellow in the American Bar Foundation and a life fellow in the Texas Bar Foundation and is a fellow in the American Law Institute. From 1988 until 2005, he served as the Reporter for the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Advisory Committee. Stephen A. Saltzburg is the Wallace and Beverley Woodbury University Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School. Professor Saltzburg, a leading national expert on the subject of evidence, teaches trial advocacy, litigation, and professional responsibility. His numerous writings include the FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE MANUAL, a six-volume treatise on the federal rules of evidence. He is a former member of the Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Evidence, and former Reporter for, and member of, the Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. He currently serves as an American Bar Association representative to the Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Evidence. Before taking his current teaching position, he taught for many years at the University of Virginia and served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also served as an Ex-Officio Member of the United States Sentencing Commission and as the Director of the Tax Refund Fraud Task Force for the U.S. Treasury Department.