The Supreme Judicial Court recommends the use of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence. Our recommendation of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence is not to be interpreted as an adoption of a set of rules of evidence, nor a predictive guide to the development of the common law of evidence. The purpose of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence is to make the law of evidence more accessible and understandable to the bench, bar, and public. We encourage all interested persons to use the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence.
Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall
Justice John M. Greaney
Justice Roderick L. Ireland
Justice Francis X. Spina
Justice Judith A. Cowin
Justice Robert J. Cordy
Justice Margot Botsford
October 2008
INTRODUCTION
In June 2006, the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court, at the request of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Boston Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, created the Supreme Judicial Court Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Evidence Law to prepare a Guide to the Massachusetts law of evidence. The Justices charged the Committee with the mandate “to assemble the current law in one easily usable document, along the lines of the Federal Rules of Evidence, rather than to prepare a Restatement or to propose changes in the existing law of evidence.” As Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall stated in her March 2006 address to the Massachusetts Bar Association, “[t]he Advisory Committee will compile a Guide to Massachusetts evidence law as it currently exists, replete with case law and reporters’ notes. The Guide will make our rules of evidence more accessible to bench, bar, and the public. It will improve the understanding, teaching, and presentation of Massachusetts evidence. It will advance the delivery of justice.”
The Massachusetts Guide to Evidence organizes and states the law of evidence applied in proceedings in the courts of the Commonwealth, as set forth in the Federal and State Constitutions, General Laws, common law, and rules of court. The Committee invites comments and suggestions on the Guide.
The Guide is organized into “Sections” using the format of the Federal Rules of Evidence insofar as the Federal rules comport with Massachusetts law and practice. Some sections are different from the Federal rules. For instance, Article V of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which governs the law of privileges, contains one general section whereas the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence contains twenty-five sections detailing evidentiary privileges and disqualifications recognized in Massachusetts. Other sections, such as Section 1102, Spoliation or Destruction of Evidence, Section 1103, Sexually Dangerous Person Proceedings, and Section 1104, Witness Cooperation Agreements, have no counterpart in the Federal rules.
Each section contains a statement of the law of Massachusetts, current through September 30, 2008, and an accompanying “Note” that includes supporting authority. Some sections are based upon a single statute or decision, while other sections were derived from multiple sources. Certain sections were drafted “nearly verbatim” from a source with minimal changes, for instance, revised punctuation, gender-neutral terms, or minor reorganization, to allow the language to be stated more accurately in the context of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence. For the practitioner’s easy reference, the Committee has included parallel citations to the North Eastern Reporter.
Many sections of the Guide use the language of the Proposed Massachusetts Rules of Evidence (1980) or the Federal Rules of Evidence. The Committee concluded that such language is preferred when it represents an accurate statement of current Massachusetts law. The Committee wishes to emphasize two points. First and foremost, in accordance with its mandate from the Supreme Judicial Court, what the Committee has written are not rules, but rather, as the title suggests, a guide to evidence based on the law as it exists today. The Committee did not attempt, nor is it authorized, to suggest modifications, adopt new rules, or predict future developments in the law. Second, the Committee has recommended to the Supreme Judicial Court that the Guide be published annually to address changes in the law and to make any other revisions as necessary. The Committee’s goal is to reflect the most accurate and clear statement of current law as possible. Ultimately, the law of evidence in Massachusetts is what is contained in the authoritative decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court and of the Appeals Court, and the statutes duly enacted by the Legislature.
Supreme
Judicial Court Advisory Committee
on Massachusetts Evidence Law
Supreme Judicial Court Advisory
Committee
on Massachusetts Evidence Law
Editor-in-Chief
Honorable R. Marc Kantrowitz, Appeals Court
Editors
Honorable Peter W. Agnes, Jr., Superior Court
Honorable David A. Lowy, Superior Court
Reporter
Joseph F. Stanton, Esq., Appeals Court
Executive Committee
Honorable R. Marc Kantrowitz
Honorable Peter W. Agnes
Honorable David A. Lowy
Elizabeth N. Mulvey, Esq., Crowe & Mulvey, LLP
Joseph F. Stanton, Esq.
Barbara Berenson, Esq., Supreme Judicial Court
Ian Pinta, Esq., Adler, Cohen, Harvey, Wakeman & Guekguezian LLP
Dorian Morello, Esq.
Committee Members
Professor Michael Avery, Suffolk University Law School
Professor Mark Brodin, Boston College Law School
Honorable James W. Coffey, Boston Municipal Court
Kevin Connelly, Esq.
Honorable Patricia G. Curtin, Dedham
District Court, Acting Presiding
Justice
Honorable Michael F. Edgerton, Essex County Juvenile Court
Assistant Attorney General Steven L.
Hoffman, Business and Labor
Protection Bureau
Timothy E. Maguire, Esq., Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Tracy A. Miner, Esq., Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, P.C.
Elizabeth N. Mulvey, Esq., Crowe & Mulvey, LLP
Martin F. Murphy, Esq., Foley Hoag LLP
Honorable Geoffrey G. Packard, Malden District Court
Katherine A. Robertson, Esq., Bulkley, Richardson & Gelinas
Honorable Catherine P. Sabaitis, First Justice, Plymouth County
Probate and Family Court
External Editors
Charles M. Burnim, Professor Emeritus, Suffolk University Law School
Dean John Fenton, Suffolk University Law School
Professor Philip K. Hamilton, New England School of Law
Nelson P. Lovins, Esq., Lovins & Metcalf
John R. Pollets, Esq., Law Office of John R. Pollets
Christopher Poreda, Esq.
Honorable William Young, United
States District Court for the District
of Massachusetts
Assistant Editors
Mary Bowe, Appeals Court
Tina LaFranchi, Appeals Court
Shelley Ruff
Robert L. Stetson
Cite-Checkers*
Appeals Court Staff Attorneys
Dan Thurler, Katherine Crockford, Ellen Epstein, Jane Hong, Ann Jones, Denise Kenneally, Lynn Muster, Linda Ruggiero, Martha Simmons, Margo Stark, and Emily Tobin
Appeals Court Law Clerks
Drew Devoogd, Justin Dibiasio, Kursten Doherty, Rebecca Fordon, Rebecca Greber, Max Grinberg, Jamie Hoag, Dana Keenholtz, Margaret Kwoka, Nicole Liguori, Doug Martland, Dorian Morello, Carla Sauvignon, Matt Schrumpf, Steve Sharobem, David Slocum, Adrienne Smith, Tim Landry, and Linda Tsang
Additional Law Clerks and Interns
Joyce Chen, Aaron Ferrecchia, Kristen A. Fiore, Carolyn Hunt, Alexis LeBlanc, Kate Liggio, Lizabeth L. Marshall, Ryan Mingo, and Jennifer Seich
Acknowledgments
The Advisory Committee thanks the Massachusetts Bar Association for its resolution, unanimously approved by its House of Delegates, requesting that the Supreme Judicial Court appoint an Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Evidence Law to produce a guide to Massachusetts evidence law.
The Advisory Committee thanks the following people for their assistance:
Honorable Barbara J. Rouse, Chief Justice, Superior Court
Honorable Lynda M. Connolly, Chief Justice, District Court
Maureen McGee, Supreme Judicial Court (through January 2007)
Christine Burak, Supreme Judicial Court
Brian H. Redmond, Supreme Judicial Court
Annie Wood, Administrative Office of the Trial Court
Robert J. Brink, Executive Vice President, Flaschner Judicial Institute
Melissa Nawrocki, Director, Flaschner Judicial Institute
Mo Sook Park, Program Manager, Flaschner Judicial Institute
Michael J. Huppe, Copy editor
The Advisory Committee thanks the following persons and entities who submitted written comments on the drafts of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence:
Boston Bar Association, including
members of the Administration
of Justice, Criminal Law, and Litigation Sections
Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys
Massachusetts Bar Association
Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association
Office of the District Attorney for Middlesex County
Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts
Greater Boston Legal Services
Honorable Carol Erskine, First Justice, Juvenile Court, Worcester County Division
Honorable Robert A. Welsh, Jr., First
Justice, District Court,
Orleans Division
Honorable John P. Sullivan (retired), Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, P.C.
Sugarman & Sugarman, P.C.
Sean T. Carnathan, Esq., O’Connor, Carnathan & Mack, LLC
Harry P. Carroll, Esq., City of Springfield Law Department
Alan N. Cote, Esq., Office of the Secretary of State
Nelson P. Lovins, Esq., Lovins & Metcalf
William J. McCrevan, Jr., Esq.
Nancy McLean, Esq.
Richard L. Neumeier, Esq., Morrison Mahoney, LLP
Daniel E. Shanahan, Esq., Law Offices of Joseph J. Cariglia, P.C.
David A. Talman, Esq., Phillips, Silver, Talman, Aframe & Sinrich, P.C.
Currency, Usage, and Terminology
Currency and usage. The Massachusetts Guide to Evidence has been updated to state the Massachusetts law of evidence as it exists through September 30, 2008. The Supreme Judicial Court Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Evidence Law has made every effort to provide accurate and informative statements of the law in the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence. Counsel and litigants are encouraged to conduct their own research for additional authorities that may be more applicable to the case or issue at hand. Importantly, given the fluidity of evidence law, all users of this Guide should perform their own research and monitor the law for the most recent modifications to and statements of the law. The Guide is not intended to constitute the rendering of legal or other professional advice, and the Guide is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.
“Not recognized” sections. Where the Advisory Committee has noted that the Federal Rules of Evidence contain a provision on a particular subject and the Committee has not identified any Massachusetts authority that recognizes that subject, or where the Supreme Judicial Court has declined to follow the Federal rule on that subject, the topic is marked “not recognized” to await further development, if any, of the law on that topic.
“Nearly verbatim” sections. The notes to some sections state that the section’s text was derived “nearly verbatim” from a specific statute, court decision, or court rule. This phrase explains that the Advisory Committee made minor modifications to an authority’s original language to allow the language to be stated more accurately in the context of the Massachusetts Guide to Evidence. Such modifications may include revised punctuation, gender-neutral terms, minor reorganization, and the use of numerals instead of spelling numerals.
Comments and suggestions. Please send any comments or suggestions to the Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Evidence Law, c/o Joseph Stanton, Reporter, Appeals Court, Clerk’s Office, John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Room 1200, Boston, MA 02108-1705.
* We are indebted to Chief Justice Phillip Rapoza, Alex McNeil, Dan Thurler, Larry Ward, and Frank Mockler of the Appeals Court for their assistance.