Monday, December 8, 2014

Texas Supreme Court Adopts Restyled Evidence Rules

The Texas Supreme Court recently announced that it has adopted revisions to the Texas Rules of Evidence. The revisions are intended to mirror the recent style revisions to the Federal Rules of Evidence. As with the Federal Rules, the revisions to the Texas Rules are intended to make them easier to read and understand.

According to the Court, only two substantive changes have been made:

  • Amendments to Tex. R. Evid. 511 align Texas law with Fed. R. Evid. 502 on waiving privilege by voluntary disclosure.
  • Amendments to Tex. R. Evid. 613 retain the requirement that a witness be given an opportunity to explain or deny (a) a prior inconsistent statement or (b) circumstances or a statement showing bias or interest, but the requirement is no longer part of the foundation that an examining attorney must lay before introducing extrinsic evidence of the statement or its circumstances.

The revisions are subject to a comment period that will end on February 28, 2015. Final approval of the revisions will be effective April 1, 2015.

For the full announcement, click here.

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