/* The conclusion of the Federal Rules of Evidence. */

ARTICLE VII. OPINIONS & EXPERT TESTIMONY

Rule 701. Opinion Testimony by Lay Witnesses

If the witness is not testifying as an expert, his testimony in

the form of opinions or inferences is limited to those opinions

or inferences which are (a) rationally based on the perception of

the witness and (b) helpful to a clear understanding of his

testimony or the determination of a fact in issue.

Rule 702. Testimony by Experts

If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will

assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to

determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by

knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify

thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.

Rule 703. Bases of Opinion Testimony by Experts

The facts or data in the particular case upon which an expert

bases an opinion or inference may be those perceived by or made

known to him at or before the hearing. If of a type reasonably

relied upon by experts in the particular field in forming

opinions or inferences upon the subject, the facts or data need

not be admissible in evidence.

/* For example, if it is reasonable for a doctor to rely on

previous notes of another doctor (which is hearsay) they may do

so, provided that the stuff which rely on is used in their field.

*/

Rule 704. Opinion on Ultimate Issue

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), testimony in the form

of an opinion or inference otherwise admissible is not

objectionable because it embraces an ultimate issue to be decided

by the trier of fact.

/* Another old rule bites the dust. It is permissible for an

expert in a medical malpractice case to state that the doctor was

not negligent. This now goes only to the weight, not the

admissibility of the evidence. */

(b) No expert witness testifying with respect to the mental state

or condition of a defendant in a criminal case may state an

opinion or inference as to whether the defendant did or did not

have the mental state or condition constituting an element of the

crime charged or of a defense thereto. Such ultimate issues are

matters for the trier of fact alone.

Rule 705. Disclosure of Facts or Data Underlying Expert Opinion

The expert may testify in terms of opinion or inference and give

his reasons therefor without prior disclosure of the underlying

facts or data, unless the court requires otherwise. The expert

may in any event be required to disclose the underlying facts or

data on cross-examination.

Rule 706. Court Appointed Experts

(a) Appointment. The court may on its own motion or on the

motion of any party enter an order to show cause why expert

witnesses should not be appointed, and may request the parties to

submit nominations. The court may appoint any expert witnesses

agreed upon by the parties, and may appoint expert witnesses of

its own selection. An expert witness shall not be appointed by

the court unless he consents to act. A witness so appointed

shall be informed of his duties by the court in writing, a copy

of which shall be filed with the clerk, or at a conference in

which the parties shall have opportunity to participate. A

witness so appointed shall advise the parties of his findings, if

any; his deposition may be taken by any party; and he may be

called to testify by the court or any party. He shall be subject

to cross-examination by each party, including a party calling him

as a witness.

(b) Compensation. Expert witnesses so appointed are entitled to

reasonable compensation in whatever sum the court may allow. The

compensation thus fixed is payable from funds which may be

provided by law in criminal cases and civil actions and

proceedings the compensation under the fifth amendment. In other

civil actions and proceedings the compensation shall be paid by

the parties in such proportion and at such time as the court

directs, and thereafter charged in like manner as other costs.

(c) Disclosure of appointment. In the exercise of its

discretion, the court may authorize disclosure to the jury of the

fact that the court appointed the expert witness.

(d) Parties's experts of own selection. Nothing in this rule

limits the parties in calling expert witnesses of their own

selection.

ARTICLE VIII. HEARSAY

Rule 801. Definitions

The following definitions apply under this article:

(a) Statement. A "statement" is (1) an oral or written assertion

or

(2) nonverbal conduct of a person, if it is intended by him as an

assertion.

(b) Declarant. A "declarant" is a person who makes a statement.

(c) Hearsay. "Hearsay" is a statement, other than one made by

the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered

in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.

(d) Statements which are not hearsay. A statement is not hearsay

if-

(1) Prior statement by witness. The declarant testifies at the

trial or hearing and is subject to cross-examination concerning

the statement, and the statement is (A) inconsistent with his

testimony, and was given under oath subject to the penalty of

perjury at a trial, hearing, or other proceeding, or in a

deposition, or (B) consistent with his testimony and is offered

to rebut an express or implied charge against him of recent

fabrication or improper influence or motive, or (C) one of

identification of a person made after perceiving him.

(2) Admission by party-opponent. The statement is offered

against a party and is (A) his own statement, in either his

individual or a representative capacity or (B) a statement of

which he has manifested his adoption or belief in its truth, or

(C) a statement by a person authorized by him to make a statement

concerning the subject, or (D) a statement by his agent or

servant concerning a matter within the scope of his agency or

employment, made during the existence of the relationship, or (E)

a statement by a coconspirator of a party during the course and

in furtherance of the conspiracy.

Rule 802. Hearsay Rule

Hearsay is not admissible except as provided by these rules or by

other rules prescribed by the Supreme Court pursuant to statutory

authority or by Act of Congress.

Rule 803. Hearsay Exceptions Availability of Declarant

Immaterial.

The following are not excluded by the hearsay rule, even though

the declarant is available as a witness:

(1) Present sense impression. A statement describing or

explaining an event or condition made while the declarant was

perceiving the event or condition, or immediately thereafter.

(2) Excited utterance. A statement relating to a startling event

or condition made while the declarant was under the stress of

excitement caused by the event or condition.

(3) The existing mental, emotional, or physical condition. A

statement of the declarant's then existing state of mind,

emotion, sensation, or physical condition (such as intent, plan,

motive, design, mental feeling, pain, and bodily health), but not

including a statement of memory or belief to prove the fact

remembered or believed unless it relates to the execution,

revocation, identification, or terms of declarant's will.

(4) Statements for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment.

Statements made for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment

and describing medical history, or past or present symptoms,

pain, or sensations, or the inception or general character of the

cause or external source thereof insofar as reasonably pertinent

to diagnosis or treatment.

(5) Recorded recollection. A memorandum or record concerning a

matter about which a witness once had knowledge but now has

insufficient recollection to enable him to testify fully and

accurately, shown to have been made or adopted by the witness

when the matter was fresh in his memory and to reflect that

knowledge correctly. If admitted, the memorandum or record may be

read into evidence but may not itself be received as an exhibit

unless offered by an adverse party.

(6) Records of regularly conducted activity. A memorandum,

report, record, or data compilation, in any form, of acts,

events, conditions, opinions, or diagnoses, made at or near the

time by, or from information transmitted by, a person with

knowledge, if kept in the course of a regularly conducted

business activity, and if it was the regular practice of that

business activity to make the memorandum, report, record, or data

compilation, all as shown by the testimony of the custodian or

other qualified witness, unless the source of information or the

method or circumstances of preparation indicate lack of

trustworthiness. The term "business" as used in this paragraph

includes business, institution, association, profession,

occupation, and calling of every kind, whether or not conducted

for profit.

(7) Absence of entry in records kept in accordance with the

provisions of paragraph (6). Evidence that a matter is not

included in the memoranda, reports, records, or data

compilations, in any form, kept in accordance with the provisions

of paragraph (6), to prove the nonoccurrence or nonexistence of

the matter, if the matter was of a kind of which a memorandum,

report, record, or data compilation was regularly made and

preserved, unless the sources of information or other

circumstances indicate lack of trustworthiness.

(8) Public records and reports. Records, reports, statements, or

data compilations, in any form, of public offices or agencies,

setting forth (A) the activities of the office or agency, or (B)

matters observed pursuant to duty imposed by law as to which

matters there was a duty to report, excluding, however, in

criminal cases matters observed by police officers and other law

enforcement personnel, or

(C) in civil actions and proceedings and against the Government

in criminal cases, factual findings resulting from an

investigation made pursuant to authority granted by law, unless

the sources of information or other circumstances indicate lack

of trustworthiness.

(9) Records of vital statistics. Records or data compilations,

in any form, of births, fetal deaths, deaths, or marriages, if

the report thereof was made to a public office pursuant to

requirements of law.

(10) Absence of public record or entry. To prove the absence of

a record, report, statement, or data compilation, in any form, or

the nonoccurrence or nonexistence of a matter of which a record,

report, statement, or data compilation, in any form, was

regularly made and preserved by a public office or agency,

evidence in the form of a certification in accordance with rule

902, or testimony, that diligent search failed to disclose the

record, report, statement, or data

compilation, or entry.

(11) Records of religious organizations. Statements of births,

marriages, divorces, deaths, legitimacy, ancestry, relationship

by blood or marriage, or other similar facts of personal or

family history, contained in a regularly kept record of a

religious organization.

(12) Marriage, baptismal, and similar certificates. Statements

of fact contained in a certificate that the maker performed a

marriage or other ceremony or administered a sacrament, made by a

clergyman, public official, or other person authorized by the

rules or practices of a religious organization or by law to

perform the act certified, and purporting to have been issued at

the time of the act or within a reasonable time thereafter.

(13) Family records. Statements of fact concerning personal or

family history contained in family Bibles, genealogies, charts,

engravings on rings, inscriptions on family portraits, engravings

on urns, crypts, or tombstones, or the like.

(14) Records of documents affecting an interest in property. The

record of a document purporting to establish or affect an

interest in property, as proof of the content of the original

recorded document and its execution and delivery by each person

by whom it purports to have been executed, if the record is a

record of a public office and an applicable statute authorizes

the recording of documents of that kind in that office.

(15) Statements in documents affecting an interest in property.

A statement contained in a document purporting to establish or

affect an interest in property if the matter stated was relevant

to the purpose of the document, unless dealings with the property

since the document was made have been inconsistent with the truth

of the statement or the purport of the document.

(16) Statements in ancient documents. Statements in a document in

existence twenty years or more the authenticity of which is

established.

(17) Market reports, commercial publications. Market quotations,

tabulations, lists, directories, or other published compilations,

generally used and relied upon by the public or by persons in

particular occupations.

(18) Learned treatises. To the extent called to the attention of

an expert witness upon cross-examination or relied upon by him in

direct examination, statements contained in published treatises,

periodicals, or pamphlets on a subject of history, medicine, or

other science or art, established as a reliable authority by the

testimony or admission of the witness or by other expert

testimony or by judicial notice. If admitted, the statements may

be read into evidence but may not be received as exhibits.

(19) Reputation concerning personal or family history. Reputation

among members of his family by blood, adoption, or marriage, or

among his associates, or in the community, concerning a person's

birth, adoption, marriage, divorce, death, legitimacy,

relationship by blood, adoption, or marriage, ancestry, or other

similar fact of his personal or family history.

(20) Reputation concerning boundaries or general history.

Reputation in a community, arising before the controversy, as to

boundaries of or customs affecting lands in the community, and

reputation as to events of general history important to the

community or State or nation in which located.

(21) Reputation as to character. Reputation of a person's

character among his associates or in the community.

(22) Judgment of previous conviction. Evidence of a final

judgment, entered after a trial or upon a plea of guilty (but not

upon a plea of nolo contendere), adjudging a person guilty of a

crime punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year,

to prove any fact essential to sustain the judgment, but not

including, when offered by the Government in a criminal

prosecution for purposes other than impeachment, judgments

against persons other than the accused. The pendency of an appeal

may be shown but does not affect admissibility.

(23) Judgment as to personal, family, or general history, or

boundaries. Judgments as proof of matters of personal family or

general history, or boundaries, essential to the judgment, if the

same would be provable by evidence of reputation.

(24) Other exceptions. A statement not specifically covered by

any of the foregoing exceptions but having equivalent

circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness, if the court

determines that (A) the statement is offered as evidence of a

material fact; (B) the statement is more probative on the point

for which it is offered than any other evidence which the

proponent can procure through reasonable efforts; and (C) the

general purposes of these rules and the interests of justice will

best be served by admission of the statement into evidence.

However, a statement may not be admitted under this exception

unless the proponent of it makes known to the adverse party

sufficiently in advance of the trial or hearing to provide the

adverse party with a fair opportunity to prepare to meet it, his

intention to offer the statement and the particulars of it,

including the name and address of the declarant.

Rule 804. Hearsay Exceptions Declarant Unavailable

(a) Definition of unavailability. "Unavailability as a witness"

includes situations in which the declarant-

(1) is exempted by ruling of the court on the ground of privilege

from testifying concerning the subject matter of his statement;

or

(2) persists in refusing to testify concerning the subject matter

of his statement despite an order of the court to do so; or

(3) testifies to a lack of memory of the subject matter of his

statement; or

(4) is unable to be present or to testify at the hearing because

of death or then existing physical or mental illness or

infirmity; or

(5) is absent from the hearing and the proponent of his statement

has been unable to procure his attendance (or in the case of a

hearsay exception under subdivision (b)(2), (3), or (4), his

attendance or testimony) by process or other reasonable means. A

declarant is not unavailable as a witness if his exemption,

refusal, claim of lack of memory, inability, or absence is due to

the procurement or wrongdoing of the proponent of his statement

for the purpose of preventing the witness from attending or

testifying.

(b) Hearsay exceptions. The following are not excluded by the

hearsay rule if the declarant is unavailable as a witness:

(1) Former testimony. Testimony given as a witness at another

hearing of the same or a different proceeding, or in a deposition

taken in compliance with law in the course of the same or another

proceeding, if the party against whom the testimony is now

offered, or, in a civil action or proceeding, a predecessor in

interest, had an opportunity and similar motive to develop the

testimony by direct, cross, or redirect examination.

(2) Statement under belief of impending death. In a prosecution

for homicide or in a civil action or proceeding, a statement made

by a declarant while believing that his death was imminent,

concerning the cause or circumstances of what he believed to be

his impending death.

(3) Statement against interest. A statement which was at the time

of its making so far contrary to the declarant's pecuniary or

proprietary interest, or so far tended to subject him to civil or

criminal liability, or to render invalid a claim by him against

another, that a reasonable man in his position would not have

made the statement unless he believed it to be true. A statement

tending to expose the declarant to criminal liability and offered

to exculpate the accused is not admissible unless corroborating

circumstances clearly indicate the trustworthiness of the

statement.

(4) Statement of personal or family history. (A) A statement

concerning the declarant's own birth, adoption, marriage,

divorce, legitimacy, relationship by blood, adoption, or

marriage, ancestry, or other similar fact of personal or family

history, even though declarant had no means of acquiring personal

knowledge of the matter stated; or (B) a statement concerning the

foregoing matters, and death also, of another person, if the

declarant was related to the other by blood, adoption, or

marriage or was so intimately associated with the other's family

as to be likely to have accurate information concerning the

matter declared.

/* Strange that although persons are often lied to by their

families, but this is allowed as trustworthy hearsay. */

(5) Other exceptions. A statement not specifically covered by any

of the foregoing exceptions but having equivalent circumstantial

guarantees of trustworthiness, if the court determines that (A)

the statement is offered as evidence of a material fact; (B) the

statement is more probative on the point for which it is offered

than any other evidence which the proponent can procure through

reasonable efforts; and (C) the general purposes of these rules

and the interests of justice will best be served by admission of

the statement into evidence. However, a statement may not be

admitted under this exception unless the proponent of it makes

known to the adverse party sufficiently in advance of the trial

or hearing to provide the adverse party with a fair opportunity

to prepare to meet it, his intention to offer the statement and

the particulars of it, including the name and address of the

declarant.

Rule 805. Hearsay Within Hearsay

Hearsay included within hearsay is not excluded under the hearsay

rule if each part of the combined statements conforms with an

exception to the hearsay rule provided in these rules.

Rule 806. Attacking and Supporting Credibility of Declarant

When a hearsay statement, or a statement defined in Rule

801(d)(2), (C), (D), or (E), has been admitted in evidence, the

credibility of the declarant may be attacked, and if attacked may

be supported, by any evidence which would be admissible for those

purposes if declarant had testified as a witness. Evidence of a

statement or conduct by the declarant at any time, inconsistent

with his hearsay statement, is not subject to any requirement

that he may have been afforded an opportunity to deny or explain.

If the party against whom a hearsay statement has been admitted

calls the declarant as a witness, the party is entitled to

examine him on the statement as if under cross- examination.

Rule 901.

(a) General provision. The requirement of authentication or

identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is

satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the

matter in question is what its proponent claims.

(b) Illustrations. By way of illustration only, and not by way

of limitation, the following are examples of authentication or

identification conforming with the requirements of this rule:

(1) Testimony of witness with knowledge. Testimony that a matter

is what it is claimed to be.

(2) Nonexpert opinion on handwriting. Nonexpert opinion as to the

genuineness of handwriting, based upon familiarity not acquired

for purposes of the litigation.

(3) Comparison by trier or expert witness. Comparison by the

trier of fact or by expert witnesses with specimens which have

been authenticated.

(4) Distinctive characteristics and the like. Appearance,

contents, substance, internal patterns, or other distinctive

characteristics, taken in conjunction with circumstances.

(5) Voice identifications. Identification of a voice, whether

heard firsthand or through mechanical or electronic transmission

or recording, by opinion based upon hearing the voice at any time

under circumstances connecting it with the alleged speaker.

(6) Telephone conversations. Telephone conversations, by

evidence that a call was made to the number assigned at the time

by the telephone company to a particular person or business, if

(A) in the case of a person, circumstances, including

self-identification, show the person answering to be the one

called, or (B) in the case of a business, the call was made to a

place of business and the conversation related to business

reasonably transacted over the telephone.

(7) Public records or reports. Evidence that a writing

authorized by law to be recorded or filed and in fact recorded or

filed in a public office, or a purported public record, report,

statement or data compilation, in any form, is from the public

office where items of this nature are kept.

(8) Ancient documents or data compilation. Evidence that a

document or data compilation, in any form, (A) is in such

condition as to create no suspicion concerning its authenticity,

(B) was in a place where it, if authentic, would likely be, and

(C) has been in existence 20 years or more at the time it is

offered.

(9) Process or system. Evidence describing a process or system

used to produce a result and showing that the process or system

produces an accurate result.

(10) Methods provided by statute or rule. Any method of

authentication or identification provided by Act of Congress or

by other rules prescribed by the Supreme Court pursuant to

statutory authority.

Rule 902.

Extrinsic evidence of authority as a condition precedent to

admissibility is not required with respect to the following:

(1) Domestic public documents under seal. A document bearing a

seal purporting to be that of the United States, or of any State,

district, Commonwealth, territory, or insular possession thereof,

or the Panama Canal Zone, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific

Islands, or of a political subdivision, department, officer, or

agency thereof, and a signature purporting to be an attestation

or execution.

(2) Domestic public documents not under seal. A document

purporting to bear the signature in his official capacity of an

officer or employee of an entity included in paragraph (1)

hereof, having no seal, if a public officer having a seal and

having official duties in the district or political subdivision

of the officer or employee certifies under seal that the signer

has the official capacity and that the signature is genuine.

(3) Foreign public documents. A document purporting to be

executed or attested in his official capacity by a person

authorized by the laws of a foreign country to make the execution

or attestation, and accompanied by a final certification as to

the genuineness of the signature and official position (A) of the

executing or attesting person, or (B) of any foreign official

whose certificate of genuineness of signature and official

position relates to the execution or attestation or is in a chain

of certificates of genuineness of signature and official position

relating to the execution or attestation. A final certification

may be made by a secretary of embassy or legation, consul

general, consul, vice consul, or consular agent of the United

States, or a diplomatic or consular official of the foreign

country assigned or accredited to the United States. If

reasonable opportunity has been given to all parties to

investigate the authenticity and accuracy of official documents,

the court may, for good cause shown, order that they be treated

as presumptively authentic without final certification or permit

them to be evidenced by an attested summary with or without final

certification.

(4) Certified copies of public records. A copy of an official

record or report or entry therein, or of a document authorized by

law to be recorded or filed and actually recorded or filed in a

public office, including data compilations in any form, certified

as correct by the custodian or other person authorized to make

the certification, by certificate complying with paragraph (1),

(2), or (3) of this rule or complying with any Act of Congress or

rule prescribed by the Supreme Court pursuant to statutory

authority.

(5) Official Publications. Books, pamphlets, or other

publications purporting to be issued by public authority.

(6) Newspapers and periodicals. Printed materials purporting to

be newspapers or periodicals.

(7) Trade inscriptions and the like. Inscriptions, signs, tags or

labels purporting to have been affixed in the course of business

and indicating ownership, control, or origin.

(8) Acknowledged documents. Documents accompanied by a

certificate of acknowledgment executed in the manner provided by

law by a notary public or other officer authorized by law to take

acknowledgments.

(9) Commercial paper and related documents. Commercial paper,

signatures thereon, and documents relating thereto to the extend

provided by general commercial law.

/* This refers to the fact that the Uniform Commercial Code

provides that the signatures on notes are deemed as genuine

unless they are disputed at the first opportunity to do so. */

(10) Presumptions under Acts of Congress. Any signature,

document, or other matter declared by Act of Congress to be

presumptively or prima facie genuine or authentic.

ARTICLE IX. AUTHENTICATION & IDENTIFICATION

Rule 903. Subscribing Witness' Testimony Unnecessary

The testimony of a subscribing witness is not necessary to

authenticate a writing unless required by the laws of the

jurisdiction whose laws govern the validity of the writing.

ARTICLE X. CONTENTS OF WRITINGS,RECORDINGS, & PHOTOGRAPHS

Rule 1001. Definitions

For purposes of this article the following definitions are

applicable:

(1) Writing and recordings. "Writings" and "recordings" consist

of letters, words, or numbers, or their equivalent, set down by

handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing,

magnetic impulse, mechanical or electronic recording, or other

form of data compilation.

(2) Photographs. "Photographs" include still photographs, X-ray

films, video tapes, and motion pictures.

(3) Original. An "original" of a writing or recording is the

writing or recording itself or any counterpart intended to have

the same effect by a person executing or issuing it. An

"original" of a photograph includes the negative or any print

therefrom. If data are stored in a computer or similar device,

any printout or other output readable by sight, shown to reflect

the data accurately, is an "original".

(4) Duplicate. A "duplicate" is a counterpart produced by the

same impression as the original, or from the same matrix, or by

means of photography, including enlargements and miniatures, or

by mechanical or electronic re-recording, or by chemical

reproduction, or by other equivalent technique which accurately

reproduces the original.

Rule 1002. Requirement of Original

To prove the content of a writing, recording, or photograph, the

original writing, recording, or photograph is required, except as

otherwise provided in these rules or by Act of Congress.

Rule 1003. Admissibility of Duplicates

A duplicate is admissible to the same extent as an original

unless

(1) a genuine question is raised as to the authenticity of the

original or (2) in the circumstances it would be unfair to admit

the duplicate in lieu of the original.

Rule 1004. Admissibility of Other Evidence of Contents

The original is not required, and other evidence of the contents

of a writing, recording, or photograph is admissible if-

(1) Originals lost or destroyed. All originals are lost to have

been destroyed, unless the proponent lost or destroyed them in

bad faith; or

(2) Original not obtainable. No original can be obtained by any

available judicial process or procedure; or

(3) Original in possession of opponent. At a time when an

original was under the control of the party against whom offered,

he was put on notice, by the pleadings or otherwise, that the

contents would be a subject of proof at the hearing, and he does

not produce the original at the hearing; or

(4) Collateral matters. The writing, recording, or photograph is

not closely related to a controlling issue.

Rule 1005. Public Records

The contents of an official record, or of a document authorized

to be recorded or filed and actually recorded or filed, including

data compilations in any form, if otherwise admissible, may be

proved by copy, certified as correct in accordance with rule 902

or testified to be correct by a witness who has compared it with

the original. If a copy which complies with the foregoing cannot

be obtained by the exercise of reasonable diligence, then other

evidence of the contents may be given.

Rule 1006. Summaries

The contents of voluminous writings, recordings, or photographs

which cannot conveniently be examined in court may be presented

in the form of a chart, summary, or calculation. The originals,

or duplicates, shall be made available for examination or

copying, or both, by parties at reasonable time and place. The

court may order that they be produced in court.

Rule 1007. Testimony or Written Admission of Party

Contents of writings, recordings, or photographs may be proved by

the testimony or deposition of the party against whom offered or

by his written admission, without accounting for the

nonproduction of the original.

Rule 1008. Functions of Court and Jury

When the admissibility of other evidence of contents of writings,

recordings, or photographs under these rules depends upon the

fulfillment of a condition of fact, the question whether the

condition has been fulfilled is ordinarily for the court to

determine in accordance with the provisions of rule 104. However,

when an issue is raised (a) whether the asserted writing ever

existed, or (b) whether another writing, recording, or photograph

produced at the trial is the original, or (c) whether other

evidence of contents correctly reflects the contents, the issue

is for the trier of fact to determine as in the case of other

issues of fact.

(a) Courts and magistrates. These rules apply to the United

States district courts, the United States bankruptcy courts, the

District Court of Guam, the District Court of the Virgin Islands,

the District Court for the District of the Canal Zone, the United

States courts of appeals, the United States Claims Court, and to

United States magistrates, in the actions, cases, and proceedings

and to the extent hereinafter set forth. The terms "judge" and

"court" in these rules include United States magistrates.

(b) Proceedings generally. These rules apply generally to civil

actions and proceedings, including admiralty and maritime cases,

to criminal cases and proceedings, to contempt proceedings except

those in which the court may act summarily, and to proceedings

and cases under title 11, United States Code.

(c) Rule of privilege. The rule with respect to privileges

applies at all stages of all actions, cases, and proceedings.

(d) Rule inapplicable. The rules (other than with respect to

privileges) do not apply in the following situations:

(1) Preliminary questions of fact. The determination of questions

of fact preliminary to admissibility of evidence when the issue

is to be determined by the court under rule 104.

(2) Grand jury. Proceedings before grand juries.

(3) Miscellaneous proceedings. Proceedings for extradition or

rendition; preliminary examinations in criminal cases;

sentencing, or granting or revoking probation; issuance of

warrants for arrest, criminal summonses, and search warrants; and

proceedings with respect to release on bail or otherwise.