Jan. 17, 2018 – How quickly can you pinpoint relevant case law on newly developing evidentiary matters when you need to know – for example – how much proof is sufficient to authenticate and admit photographs of text messages?

Locate relevant case law, including on the latest evidentiary matters, quickly and easily with The Wisconsin Rules of Evidence: A Courtroom Handbook from State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE^©, newly updated for 2017-18.

With its unique topical guide, the Handbook makes it easy to find specific rules and accompanying annotations. Answering the question above, the court of appeals required no “more stringent authentication rules [for text messages] than those [for] … other sorts of correspondence,” in State v. Giacomantonio.¹

And, you’ll quickly find answers to these questions:

• What should a circuit court consider in determining the reliability and admissibility of expert testimony under the Daubert standard? In Seifert v. Balink², the supreme court said that “experience-based expert evidence may pass muster as a method under the reliability requirement.”

• What circumstances implicate criminal defendants’ Confrontation Clause rights? In State v. Mattox³, the court found no Confrontation Clause violation by the admission of a toxicology report requested by the medical examiner as part of autopsy protocol in a drug-overdose death when the report’s author did not testify.

These are only a few of the emerging evidentiary issues in cases recently decided by Wisconsin’s appellate courts and newly annotated in the Handbook.

Find Pertinent Cases – with New Perspectives – on Recurring Issues

In addition to these especially timely topics, the Handbook incorporates annotations for newly refined appellate court statements about longer-evolving evidentiary issues in a number of common scenarios.

In a case involving a slip-and-fall injury, for example, the court held that health care records may be admitted under residual hearsay exception.⁴ In a personal injury case arising out of an automobile accident, the court of appeals held that the plaintiff’s written release of claims was not barred as a statement made by an injured person within 72 hours after the injury under Wis. Stat. section 904.12.⁵

For the 2017-18 revised edition, the Handbook’s authors – Michael J. Brose of New Richmond, Hon. John Markson (reserve judge) of Madison, and Liesl Nelson of Hudson – identified and annotated these and other significant evidence-related cases decided since the publication of the 2016-17 supplement to the book.

The revision also updates the text of the Wisconsin Rules of Evidence to reflect recent amendments.

How to Order

The Wisconsin Rules of Evidence: A Courtroom Handbook is available both in print and online via Books UnBound^®, the State Bar’s interactive online library. The print book costs $179 for members and $229 for nonmembers. Electronic forms from the book are available online to print book owners and to Books UnBound subscribers.

Subscribers to the State Bar’s automatic supplementation service will receive future updates at a discount off the regular price. Annual subscriptions to Books UnBound start at $159 per title (single-user price, call for full-library and law-firm pricing).

For more information, or to place an order, visit the WisBar Marketplace or call the State Bar at (800) 728-7788 or (608) 257-3838.

Endnotes

¹ 2016 WI App 62, ¶ 26, 371 Wis. 2d 452, 885 N.W.2d 394 (review denied).

² 2017 WI 2, 372 Wis. 2d 525, 888 N.W.2d 816.

³ 2017 WI 9, 373 Wis. 2d 122, 890 N.W.2d 256, cert. denied, 138 S. Ct. 355 (2017).

⁴ Gaethke v. Pozder, 2017 WI App 38, ¶ 29, 376 Wis. 2d 448, 899 N.W.2d 381.

⁵ Hart v. Artisan & Truckers Cas. Co., 2017 WI App 45, 377 Wis. 2d 177, 900 N.W.2d 610.