§ 44.01 Introduction

• Jurisdiction: United States

§ 44.01 Introduction

In a prosecution for selling liquor on Sunday, the prosecutor must prove that the day alleged in the indictment, e.g., May 21, was a Sunday. Producing a calendar, the prosecutor asks the trial court to take judicial notice that May 21 fell on a Sunday in the relevant year.

As the above example illustrates, judicial notice is a short-cut. The party with the burden of proving an adjudicative fact typically must introduce evidence to establish that fact.¹ If, however, a fact is indisputable, the court may, and in some instances must, accept the fact as established (judicially noticed) and thereby dispense with the requirement of evidentiary proof.

Judicial notice of adjudicative facts serves two functions. First, it expedites the trial, thus conserving both time and expense. Second, it prevents a jury from reaching an absurd result; the jury is precluded from denying the indisputable.²

Rule 201 is the only provision in the Federal Rules on judicial notice. It specifies the kinds of facts that are subject to judicial notice as well as the procedural aspects of taking judicial notice.

The term "judicial notice" is used to describe a number of related but different concepts, and Rule 201 deals only with one of them—judicial notice of adjudicative facts. There are two other concepts that need to be understood: (1) judicial notice of law and (2) judicial notice of legislative facts.

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Notes:

^[1] See Dippin' Dots, Inc. v. Frosty Bites Distribution, LLC, 369 F.3d 1197, 1204 (11th Cir. 2004) ("Judicial notice is a means by which adjudicative facts not seriously open to dispute are...