Murder was the Case that They Gave Me

76.  When an out-of-court statement is offered to show its effect on the person who hears (or reads) that statement, the statement (assuming it is offered for a relevant purpose) will be admissible because it is not hearsay.

77.  Statements of party opponents are admissions and are treated as nonhearsay under FRE 801(d).  A statement of physical or mental condition under FRE 803(3) made to non-physicians must relate to an existing emotional, physical or mental condition.

78.  Although the two parties to a contract ostensibly give the requisite mutual assent, where the assent of one party is arrived at by a misrepresentation as to a material term by the other pary, the contract will not be enforced.

79.  A minor may avoid his contractual obligation by taking the appropriate steps to disaffirm the contract.  The minor may avoid the effects of the contract by setting up his minority as a defense in the action brought by the adult.  The fact that the contract is executory simplifies the matter of avoidance, but even a contract that has been partially performed (such as where the minor has received goods in the course of the transaction) may be disaffirmed, although the minor then may be ordered to return anything that remains of what he received.

80.  Where the parties to a written contract intend that writing to be the final and complete expression of their agreement, it is said to be an "integrated" contract.  The effect of integration is that the parol evidence rule will bar the admission of evidence of any contemporaneous or earlier agreements between the parties that vary or contradict the terms in the writing.  Where there was an error in transcribing the terms of the agreement, the court will hear parol evidence as to the actual agreement and will reform the writing to accurately reflect that agreement and enforce it accordingly.

81.  The general rule is that a unilateral mistake will not justify rescission of the contract, but rescission may be available where the non-mistaken party knew or reasonably should have known of the mistake and took advantage of teh aggrieved party's error.

82.  The Supremacy Clause prohibits the state or local governments from directly regulating or taxing the federal government without the federal government's consent.

83.  Any state or local law which is in direct conflict with a valid federal law will be struck down as a violation of the Supremacy Clause.

84.  The competency of a child-witness is measured at the time of the occurrence or event which he is called to testify about, and not at time of trial.  There is no rule which excludes a child of any specified age from testifying but in each case the test is whether the witness has intelligence enough to perceive and recollect, and whether he is old enough to understand the duty to tell the truth.

85.  Under FRE 411, evidence that a person was or was not insured against liability is not admissible on the issue of whether he acted negligently or with fault.  However, the rule does not require the exclusion of evidence of insurance when offered for another purpose, such as proof of ownership or control of the vehicle.  Look for a stipulation of ownership of the vehicle.

86.  An existing violation of zoning ordinances is treated as rendering title to the affected property unmarketable.  A change in zoning which occurs during the period after formation of the contract of sale but before escrow closing does not affect marketability of title, but may involve frustratino of purpose.  Every contract for the sale of real property contains an implied covenant that marketable title will be conveyed (absent a contractual provision to the contrary).

87.  In order for a provocation to be sufficient to mitigage an intentional killing from murder to voluntary manslaughter, it must be objectively reasonable, that is, it must be such as would cause a reasonable person to lose normal self-control and engage in homicidal behavior.  Modernly, there is a trend towards giving consideration in the reasonable provocation analysis to any particular circumstances surrounding the defendant which might fairly affect how a reasonable person would behave.  The defendant's individual moral idiosyncrasies, and such voluntarily-induced handicaps such as intoxication, are still ignored in determine the mitigating effect of the victim's conduct.

88.  A homicide is justified as self-defense if the victim engages in a wrongful, deadly attack and the defendant's use of deadly force is necessary to ward off that attack.  Even where there is no actual threat of deadly force against a defendant, if there reasonably appears to be such a threat, and the defendant honestly believes that he must defend himself with deadly force, a resulting homicide is justified, and there is no crime.  As Snoop Dogg once said, "Murder was the case that they gave me."

89.  In the majority of jurisdictions, the measure of damages for misrepresentation is measured by the benefit of the bargain theory.  Damages measured by the difference between the value of the property being purchased if its condition was as represented and its value with defects.  Watch out for fair market value versus what buyer paid.

90.  The seller of property is liable for personal injuries caused by dangerous conditions on the land at the time of transfer if he is aware of the conditions and fails to disclose them.  If the seller fails to disclose the condition, he remains liable until the buyer has a reasonable period of time to discover and repair the defects.  However, if the seller actively conceals the condition, he remains liable until the buyer actually discovers the condition and has a reasonable period of time to repair it.  In other words, if the seller actively conceals the condition, he bears the risk that the buyer may negligently fail to discover the defect.

91.  Although courts are sometimes reluctant to grant relief for unilateral mistakes, relief is almost always granted when the other party is aware of the mistake.

92.  UCC 2-209 makes enforceable a modification requested in good faith.

93.  UCC 2-609 permits a party to suspend performance when there are reasonable grounds for insecurity and to withhold performance pending receipt of assurances of perofrmance by the other party.

94.  A guaranty promise need not be in writing when the promisor makes it "mainly for his own economic advantage."  This is the "main purpose" exception to the Statute of Frauds.

95.  A promise not supported by bargained for exchange is not enforceable.

96.  A state or local regtulation may not discriminate or unduly burden interstate commerce.

97.  A state or local regulation is valid if it is rationally related to the health, safety and general welfare of its residents and does not violate any rights secured by the Constitution.

98.  The right to procedural due process cannot be asserted against a private actor.  Even if private actor licensed by city or state, not enough.

99.  FRE 403 allows the judge to exclue, in her discretion, otherwise relevant evidence if the probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of 1) unfair prejudice, 2) confusion of the issue, 3) misleading the jury, 4) undue delay, or 5) needless presentation of cumulative evidence.

100.  Investigation of bias is always permissible on cross examination, and the witness' relationship to the defendant would tend to prove bias.

101.  A criminal defendant may introduce evidence of his character that is inconsistent with the charged offense, thus placing his character at issue.

Comments

[Darryl from the warehouse]

Cut & paste Bro, cut & paste. (That's what she said).

[Rich]

Can't do it. Need to get my typing up to 100 WPM by exam time.

[Michelle]

Just for the record I don't read these posts. Hope you're having fun! At what age can Vaughan intern with you?

[Rich]

As soon as I get my name on the door out front, so 3-5 years. :)