§33.18 OTHER EXCEPTIONS

• Jurisdiction: United States

§33.18. OTHER EXCEPTIONS

There are several other exceptions in Rule 803. Many are codifications of the common law that are not as important today as they were when first adopted by common law judges. For example, a number of exceptions deal with pedigree, i.e., births, deaths, legitimacy, marriage, and family relationships. While these issues remain significant, modern recording systems make resort to the family Bible¹⁹¹ and community reputation¹⁹² rare.¹⁹³ Indeed, Rule 803(9) recognizes a hearsay exception for records of vital statistics.

Another group of exceptions deals with real property — i.e., the question of who owns Blackacre.¹⁹⁴

¹⁸⁹ Fed. R. Evid. 803 advisory committee's note ("The exception does not include evidence of the conviction of a third person, offered against the accused in a criminal prosecution to prove any fact essential to sustain the judgment of conviction. A contrary position would seem clearly to violate the right of confrontation. . . . The situation is to be distinguished from cases in which conviction of another person is an element of the crime, e.g., 15 U.S.C. § 902(d), interstate shipment of firearms to a known convicted felon, and, as specifically provided, from impeachment.").

¹⁹⁰ See Fed. R. Evid. 404(b) (admissibility of prior crimes, wrongs, or acts).

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Notes:

^[191] Fed. R. Evid. 803(13).

^[192] Fed. R. Evid. 803(19).

^[193] See also Fed. R. Evid. 803(11) (records of religious organizations); Fed. R. Evid. 803(12) (marriage and baptismal certificates); Fed. R. Evid. 803(23) judgments concerning personal/family history). Another exception is found in Rule 804. Fed. R. Evid. 804(b)(4) (statements of personal/family relationship).

^[194] See Fed. R. Evid...