Applicability of the Rules of Evidence

1. Law
2. Georgia Code
3. Evidence
4. General Provisions
5. Purpose and Applicability of Rules of Evidence
6. Applicability of the Rules of Evidence

1. The rules of evidence shall apply in all trials by jury in any court in this state.
2. The rules of evidence shall apply generally to all nonjury trials and other fact-finding proceedings of any court in this state subject to the limitations set forth in subsections (c) and (d) of this Code section.
3. The rules of evidence, except those with respect to privileges, shall not apply in the following situations:
   1. The determination of questions of fact preliminary to admissibility of evidence when the issue is to be determined by the court under Code Section 24-1-104;
   2. Criminal proceedings before grand juries;
   3. Proceedings for extradition or rendition;
   4. Proceedings for revoking parole;
   5. Proceedings for the issuance of warrants for arrest and search warrants except as provided by subsection (b) of Code Section 17-4-40;
   6. Proceedings with respect to release on bond;
   7. Dispositional hearings and custody hearings in juvenile court; or
   8. Contempt proceedings in which the court, pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section 15-1-4, may act summarily.
4. 1. In criminal commitment or preliminary hearings in any court, the rules of evidence shall apply except that hearsay shall be admissible.
   2. In in rem forfeiture proceedings, the rules of evidence shall apply except that hearsay shall be admissible in determining probable cause or reasonable cause.
   3. In presentence hearings, the rules of evidence shall apply except that hearsay and character evidence shall be admissible.
   4. In administrative hearings, the rules of evidence as applied in the trial of nonjury civil actions shall be followed, subject to special statutory rules or agency rules as authorized by law.
5. Except as modified by statute, the common law as expounded by Georgia courts shall continue to be applied to the admission and exclusion of evidence and to procedures at trial.

(Code 1981, §24-1-2, enacted by Ga. L. 2011, p. 99, § 2/HB 24.)

Cross references.

- Applicability of the rules, Fed. R. Evid. 1101.

Law reviews.

- For article on the 2011 enactment of this Code section, see 28 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 1 (2011). For annual survey of evidence law, see 67 Mercer L. Rev. 63 (2015).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Application of rules of evidence.

- Under Georgia's new Evidence Code, unless a fact-finding proceeding involves one of the 12 situations enumerated in O.C.G.A. § 24-1-2(c) and (d), the rules of evidence fully apply; similarity to one or more of the enumerated situations is insufficient to limit the applicability of the evidence rules. Parker v. State, 296 Ga. 586, 769 S.E.2d 329 (2015).

Error in application of hearsay rules in determining material witness status.

- Trial court erred in applying the hearsay rules to exclude the appellant's proffered documents from the evidence the court considered in ruling on a motion for material witness certificates as to the Kentucky-based manufacturer of the breathalyzer because an exception under O.C.G.A. § 24-1-2(c)(1) applied. Parker v. State, 296 Ga. 586, 769 S.E.2d 329 (2015).

Long standing requirement for admission of victim's character evidence not changed.

- There is no reason to construe the rules regarding the admission of character evidence as a modification of Georgia's long-standing requirement that a defendant must first make a prima facie showing of self-defense before requiring a trial court to determine whether evidence pertaining to the victim's character is admissible. Oliver v. State, 329 Ga. App. 377, 765 S.E.2d 606 (2014).

Evidence of silence or failure to report crime evaluated on case-by-case basis.

- Judicially created rule excluding all comment upon a defendant's silence or failure to come forward to report a crime as more prejudicial than probative, Mallory v. State, 261 Ga. 625, 409 S.E.2d 839 (1991), was abrogated by Georgia's new Evidence Code; now such silence or failure to come forward must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis under O.C.G.A. § 24-4-403. State v. Orr, 350 Ga. App. 474, 829 S.E.2d 632 (2019).

Admissibility of prior testimony of disabled witness.

- Trial court did not err in relying in part on a letter from a physician treating a prior victim, who wrote that the victim's medical condition left the victim unable to travel to Chatham County, and in admitting the victim's prior testimony about a robbery because, whether the Screven County victim was unavailable presented a question of fact to be determined by the trial court as a preliminary to the admissibility of the victim's prior testimony, and there was no error in its consideration of the physician's letter in resolving that question. Scott v. State, Ga. , 844 S.E.2d 785 (2020).

Cited in Taylor v. State, 337 Ga. App. 486, 788 S.E.2d 97 (2016); W. Sky Fin., LLC v. State of Ga. ex rel. Olens, 300 Ga. 340, 793 S.E.2d 357 (2016).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Applicability of rules of evidence in juvenile delinquency proceeding, 43 A.L.R.2d 1128.

Applicability of rules of evidence to juvenile transfer, waiver, or certification hearings, 37 A.L.R.5th 703.

ARTICLE 2 GENERAL EVIDENTIARY MATTERS

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