§ 29.03 ORAL CONVERSATIONS

• Jurisdiction: North Carolina

§ 29.03. ORAL CONVERSATIONS

Rule 106 does not apply to oral conversations unless they are taped.⁶ A party who wishes to elicit additional parts of a conversation to put the conversation in context must wait until a later stage in the proceeding — typically, cross-examination or redirect examination. The trial court, however, has authority under Rule 611(a) to apply the rule of completeness to conversations.⁷

Rule 106 does apply when a witness is questioned about a writing, which is tantamount to the introduction of the writing in evidence.⁸

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Notes:

^[7] See Fed. R. Evid. 611(a) ("The court should exercise reasonable control over the mode and order of examining witnesses and presenting evidence."); United States v. Verdugo, 617 F.3d 565, 579 (1st Cir. 2010) ("district court retained substantial discretion under Fed. R. Evid. 611(a) to apply the rule of completeness to oral statements"); United States v. Li, 55 F.3d 325, 329 (7th Cir. 1995) ("We have recently refused to extend this rule to oral statements but have held that Fed. R. Evid. 611(a) grants district courts the same authority regarding oral statements which Fed. R. Evid. 106 grants regarding written and recorded statements."); United States v. Castro, 813 F.2d 571, 576 (2d Cir. 1987) ("Whether we operate under Rule 106's embodiment of the rule of completeness, or under the more general provision of Rule...