Pending change to federal rules of evidence

As you know, Military Rule of Evidence 1102 provides that,

Amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence – other than Articles III and V – will amend parallel provisions of the Military Rules of Evidence by operation of law 18 months after the effective date of such amendments, unless action to the contrary is taken by the President.

So, here is some relevant activity regarding possible changes to the federal rules of evidence.

Invitation for Comment on Evidence Rule 801(d)(1)(A)

As part of its ongoing work, the Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules is considering a possible amendment to Rule 801(d)(1)(A) that would provide for substantive admissibility of more prior inconsistent statements than is currently permitted under the Rule. The Committee invites comment from members of the bench, bar, and public on their experience with the rule and potential rule amendment ideas that have been identified by the Committee. Please submit any comments by August 31, 2017 to Rules Comments@ao.uscourts.gov(link sends e-mail). For further information, please see Tab 3 of the meeting materials for the Committee’s spring 2017 meeting.

• Invitation for Comment from Advisory Committee on Rules of Evidence (July 6, 2017) (pdf).

PRELIMINARY DRAFT OF . . . Evidence Rule 807, at 67.

See here for the Notice of the opportunity to comment, no later than February 2018. Important changes or additions seem to be:

• the court determines that it is supported by sufficient guarantees of trustworthiness—after considering the totality of circumstances under which it was made and any evidence corroborating the statement; and
• it is offered as evidence of a material fact;
• it is more probative on the point for which it is offered than any other evidence that the proponent can obtain through reasonable efforts;
• the party offering the hearsay has given reasonable prior written notice.