Evidence in a Nutshell (Nutshell Series)

Rating:
Summary: Needlessly Confusing
Review: I used this text in a class taught by the author. I found the text to be needlessly confusing when compared to similar products. The book jumps from concept to concept without providing a firm basis on which to base off of. The only thing that saved me in class was relying instead on Best's Examples and Explanations of Evidence. Evidence can be taught in a clear and concise manner.

Rating:
Summary: Evidence by Rothstein
Review: The first principle of evidence involves relevancy. Evidence is
relevant if a reasonable fact-finder could feel that it renders
some fact more probable or less probable in any degree than it
appeared before the introduction of the evidence. Relevancy does not require that the fact be made to appear highly probable.
We are not testing sufficiency of the total proof of a case.
Instead, the basic rule seeks to establish an entry threshold
upon which a building block may be constructed. In some cases,
the judge and jury may have to resort to matters not in the record to determine whether or not a piece of evidence renders
a proposition more probable than before. As a basic principle,
relevancy subsumes materiality. The remainder of the book explains presumptions under the law, heresay, impeachment of
witnesses, exemptions and a whole host of complicating factors
relevant in a trial setting.

The book is written for a legal constituency. It assumes some
legal background or knowledge of basic definitions. The constituency of this book consists of legal scholars, lawyers,
law students and a wide constituency in business and academe.
It is well worth the price for serious students of the law.