Assignments & Exams Course:
Laws of Evidence: Assignment Felix returned from work and found his roommate Oscar shaking, vomiting, and moaning in pain. Felix quickly drove Oscar to a nearby emergency room. On the way to the hospital, Oscar said: "Marsha did this." At the emergency room, a doctor immediately took Oscar's medical history. Oscar told the doctor: "A friend gave me some brownies. They tasted a little funny, but I ate them. About ten minutes later, my heart started beating fast, this shaking started, and I had to vomit. Help me!"
A police officer, who had just transported another patient to the emergency room, overheard Oscar's statement. "Who gave you those brownies?" the officer demanded. "We have to make sure he doesn't give them to anyone else. This could be a bioterrorist attack!" Oscar told the police officer, "It was my friend Marsha, but I'm sure she's not a terrorist. She's just a bad cook." Oscar then lapsed into a coma; the following day he died of heart failure. An autopsy revealed that Oscar had been poisoned with dried venom taken from a Colorado River Toad (Bufo Alvarius). That toad's venom causes hallucinations, nervous seizures, vomiting, and heart failure. After a full police investigation, the prosecutor charged Marsha with first-degree murder.
The prosecutor claims that Marsha intentionally poisoned Oscar with venom-laden brownies. At trial, the prosecutor plans to introduce the following evidence: Felix's testimony that, on the way to the hospital, Oscar said "Marsha did this." Oscar's patient chart from the hospital, in which the doctor recorded Oscar's statement that: "A friend gave me some brownies. They tasted a little funny, but I ate them. About ten minutes later, my heart started beating fast, this shaking started, and I had to vomit. Help me!"
The emergency room's head nurse will testify that the hospital has regular guidelines for documenting patient illnesses, and that Oscar's chart complied with those guidelines. The head nurse did not hear Oscar's statement; the doctor who treated him is not available to testify at trial.
The police officer's testimony that Oscar said "my friend Marsha" when asked who gave him the brownies. Testimony by Dr. Todd Croak, an expert on animal toxins, that: "In my opinion, the venom of a Colorado River Toad is so poisonous that any food containing this toad's venom was intended to kill the recipient." Marsha's attorney has stipulated that the field of animal toxins is an appropriate one for expert testimony and that Croak is qualified in that field.
Testimony from Marsha's sister, Patty, that Marsha has a longstanding habit-dating back to childhood-of collecting and torturing toads.
Apart from the stipulation noted in part (d) above, Marsha's attorney plans to challenge each of these pieces of evidence.
Please discuss the specific objections that Marsha should raise with respect to each piece of evidence and the likelihood of prevailing on those objections.