Carlson on Evidence: Comparing Georgia and Federal Rules 7th Edition

To date, this evidentiary title has been cited by the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Court of Appeals of Georgia in over 50 separate opinions. The Georgia Supreme Court referenced the authors of Carlson on Evidence when it adverted to “leading commentators on the new [Georgia] evidence code.”
Since its first edition, Carlson on Evidence, has focused on a comprehensive, rule-by-rule, comparative examination of Georgia’s old evidence code, new 2013 evidence code and the federal counterpart. Each new edition expands upon its unparalleled content with a wide array of updated Georgia and federal evidence, authority and analysis.
The accessible, user-friendly format allows readers to approach and consider the rules presented, both state and federal, and provides:

• The rule or rules themselves
• Primary authority
• Summary of Georgia Code changes
• Comparison with Federal Rules of Evidence
• Key federal and relevant state authority and analysis
• Georgia Law
Topical coverage includes:

• Relevant evidence
• Privileges
• Witnesses
• Expert testimony
• Hearsay
• Authentication
The appendix provides the text of the Georgia and Federal Rules of Evidence in their entirety, as well as testimonial evidence (“Crawford” and “Bruton” issues).
When the courts have not had specific correlation of the Georgia Evidence Code to the Federal Rules of Evidence, they have turned to Carlson on Evidence as secondary authority to identify whether a rule closely follows the federal counterpart or if prior Georgia case law interpreting former code sections should apply. The scholarly opinion in Parker v. State observes that, unlike some other evidentiary code patterns, the 2013 Georgia statute contained commendable specifics respecting its application. The decision then adds this: “Leading commentators on the new Evidence Code agree with this conclusion and suggest why the Georgia provision differs from the federal model in this respect. Professors Ronald and Michael Carlson explain that the new Georgia Code was written to prevent courts from creating patchwork exceptions to the applicability of the rules of evidence, which had been a criticism of the old code.”