- Home
- Books and Journals
- Carolina Academic Press
- Understanding Evidence (2018)
- Title
- Chapter 18 Witness Competency
§ 18.06 Dead Man Statutes
Jurisdiction | United States |
Dead Man statutes are intended to protect the estates of deceased or incompetent persons against fraudulent claims. Typically, they disqualify a surviving party from testifying if the other party dies. Such statutes "vary greatly in their wording and coverage, and the attitudes of the courts differ as to their interpretation, even where similar provisions are involved. Consequently, precedents from one state may be of little value in another jurisdiction."49 For example, some cover transactions but not torts.50 If the statute applies to torts, death need not be caused by the incident subject to litigation—e.g., a party dies of a natural death while waiting for trial.
There has never been a federal Dead Man statute, and only a handful of jurisdictions have retained Dead Man statutes.51
Criticisms. While based on a noble aim, these statutes accomplish this goal in a troublesome fashion.52 They assume that a party-witness's interest in a case will result in fraudulent testimony which, because of death or legal incompetency, cannot be rebutted by the adverse party. This assumption is questionable. In addition, there are numerous other problems with Dead Man statutes. First, the statute is probably ineffective; it will not prevent a dishonest party from introducing false testimony through other witnesses. Second, the statute may be unnecessary; the jury can quickly comprehend the obvious bias of the party-witness and "cross-examination and other safeguards for truth are sufficient guarantee against frequent false decisions."53 Third, because of innumerable exceptions and waiver options, these statutes are often difficult to apply.54Fourth, and most important, the statute works an injustice upon an honest party who is disqualified.
Alternative approaches. Finally, other mechanisms are available to protect the estates of deceased and legally incompetent persons. For example, some jurisdictions require corroboration; others give the trial judge discretion to admit the survivor's testimony.55Still others recognize a hearsay exception for the statements of the deceased or incompetent person.56 Such a provision, along with the abolition of the Dead Man's Statute, permits the jury to receive more information, not less, and avoids the injustices of the statute.
--------
Notes:
[49] See Ray, Dead Man's Statutes, 24 Ohio St. L.J. 89, 91 (1963).
[50] See Farley v. Collins, 146 So. 2d 366, 370 (Fla. 1962) ("[T]he collision in the instant case did...
To continue reading
Request your trial- Title
- Chapter 18 Witness Competency
- § 18.01 Introduction: FRE 601
- § 18.02 Oath Requirement: FRE 603
- § 18.03 Mental Competency
- § 18.04 Ability to Communicate
- § 18.05 Child Competency and Testimony
- § 18.06 Dead Man Statutes
- § 18.07 Competency of Judge: FRE 605
- § 18.08 Competency of Jurors: FRE 606
- § 18.09 Competency of Attorneys
- § 18.10 Choice of Law
- § 18.11 Key Points
Subscribers can access the reported version of this case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a list of all the cited cases and legislation of a document.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a list of all the documents that have cited the case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see the revised versions of legislation with amendments.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see any amendments made to the case.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see a visualisation of a case and its relationships to other cases. An alternative to lists of cases, the Precedent Map makes it easier to establish which ones may be of most relevance to your research and prioritise further reading. You also get a useful overview of how the case was received.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.
Subscribers are able to see the list of results connected to your document through the topics and citations Vincent found.
You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.
Why Sign-up to vLex?
-
Over 100 Countries
Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
-
Thousands of Data Sources
Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
-
Find What You Need, Quickly
Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
-
Over 2 million registered users
Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.