Federal Rules of Evidence: A Quick Overview

Here's a Quick Way to Remember the Applicable Federal Rules of Evidence

M. Lee Taft
In law school, my Evidence professor taught us a couple of quick mnemonic devices to remember when analyzing a piece of evidence and its admissibility.
His suggestion was either to "BARPH" the evidence, or remember our "RAPHOOP."

BARPHing the evidence means to go through this analysis.
B: Best Evidence rule -- FRE 1001-1008
A: Authentication -- FRE 901-903
R: Relevance -- FRE 401-415, 601-615, 701-706
P: Privilege -- FRE 501
H: Hearsay -- FRE 801-807

I preferred RAPHOOP, because it gave me more points to remember, which allowed me the opportunity to pick up more points on the exam.
R: Relevance -- FRE 401-403
A: Authentication -- FRE 901-903
P: Policy -- FRE 401-415, 601, 603-615
H: Hearsay -- FRE 801-807
O: Original Document -- FRE 1001-1008
O: Opinion -- FRE 602, 701-705
P: Privilege -- FRE 501

Obviously, you still have to know what the rules are in each of these groupings, and know what to do with the information when you see it. But having a quick way to run through everything is a great starting point to make sure you remember all the possible ways of admitting (or excluding) evidence.

Published by M. Lee Taft

I'm a law student, sports fan, husband, father of two. I love killing time on the internet. I've recently started playing chess.  View profile

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