Graphic Helps Students Decipher Evidence Rule
by
Kevin C. McMunigal

I use an "aperture grid" graphic device, which analogizes Federal Rule of Evidence 609 to a camera lens, to help students decipher and remember the rule's complicated provisions on impeachment by prior conviction.

I first suggest that students clarify Rule 609 by breaking it into a series of provisions keyed to the type and age of the conviction and the identity of the witness being impeached. These provisions vary in restrictiveness in admitting prior convictions. If one thinks of Rule 609 as a camera lens, its rules can be thought of as different aperture settings on the lens. As one changes the aperture setting on a lens, its receptivity to light changes. Similarly, as one moves from provision to provision within Rule 609, receptivity to admission of prior convictions changes.

I distribute copies of the [blank] "aperture grid" a few days before the class on Rule 609 and use an overhead transparency to explain its use.

I ask the students to prepare for the class on Rule 609 by ranking its provisions on the grid according to their restrictiveness, with the least restrictive at the top and the most restrictive at the bottom. They fill in the far left column with the conditions that trigger each provision. The weighing formula each provision uses for balancing probative value against the likelihood of prejudice goes in the middle column. In the far right column, I have them draw a circle, the size of which corresponds to the rule's restrictiveness. Finally, I suggest that they test their completed grids by asking themselves what happens under each provision if a conviction's probative value equals its likelihood of prejudice.

During the class session on Rule 609, I again put a transparency of the blank grid on the overhead projector and enlist the students to direct me in completing it. The grid can become illegible by the time we are done, so I put up the printed version of the completed grid for students to compare with their own grids.

To avoid reducing the students' incentive to work on their own grids both before and during class, I do not hand out copies of the printed form of the completed grid. At the end of the class, we go over what happens under each provision when a conviction's probative value equals likely prejudice.

Both the aperture analogy and the completed grid's diagram help to reveal the underlying structure of Rule 609, leading to better understanding and retention of its provisions. The Evidence class in which I use this grid is typically highly active and participatory. In my view, this is partly because students come to class better prepared and more confident in their mastery of Rule 609, and partly because of the visual stimulation and participatory nature of the group exercise.