Lawyers Weekly Books

This is the official SJC reference book on the law Evidence. It is on every judge's bench. It covers all aspects of evidentiary admissibility and much more, along with a comparison between Massachusetts law and Federal Rules. Like its predecessors, the 2023 edition of the Guide contains substantive changes to the guidelines as well as accompanying, detailed notes to keep pace with changes in the law at the state and federal level. The 2023 edition includes substantial revisions to Section 403 (Excluding Relevant Evidence for Prejudice, Confusion, Waste of Time or Other Reasons), 404(b)(2) (Prior Bad Acts), Article V (Introductory Note), Section 901 (Authentication), section 1101(c)(3) (probation violation proceedings), section 1105 (Third-Party Culprit Evidence), section 1107 (Inadequate Police Investigation), section 1106 (Abuse Prevention Orders and Harassment Orders), and section 1113 (Opening Statements and Closing Arguments). The 2023 edition also contains a new section 1120 that compiles the law concerning Courtroom Demonstrations, Experiments, and Computer Simulations). The 2023 edition adds 48 new decisions by the Supreme Judicial Court and the Appeals Court from 2022, and an additional 36 appellate court decisions that did not appear in prior editions.