The biggest mistake most people make is not knowing basic rules of evidence.
Testimony from a “copy” is inadmissible. Testimony is inadmissible unless it comes from a witness accepted by the court — not some lawyer lathering up his mouth and using finesse to escape the rules of evidence. Every witness must be sworn, must have personal knowledge of the contents, must remember it ALL and be able to communicate it with specificity such that a court could rule without the court creating a document that had never been in existence before the evidentiary hearing.
Ever hear the old “buyers are liars”? Some of attorneys are right there with ‘em. As soon as the Lawyer starts talking you should probably be objecting since he is not sworn, not a witness and never will be.
So what this means is that an affidavit that is sworn must be the “testimony” of a witness accepted by the court who has personal knowledge and is not reporting what was told to them by someone else and not be reporting what they read in another document.
Hats off to our friend Neil Garfield at Livinglies for a great piece on evidence. Show me the proof!!!
