The ostrich instruction gets the OK

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted May 21, 2015 2:58 PM

David Pierotti appealed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, contending a federal judge in Wisconsin erred in giving an “ostrich instruction” on what would justify a verdict that Pierotti knowingly made a false statement when, while purchasing a rifle, he submitted a form saying he had not been convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” — even though he had a record for misdemeanor battery of his then-fiancee.Pierotti testified that before he went to the local Walmart to buy …

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Iowa Supreme Court blocks testimony about business records

In a case where prosecutors relied on the hearsay rule’s business-records exception to justify testimony about documents that weren’t admitted into evidence, the Iowa Supreme Court, citing decisions from across the country, reversed because “the rules of evidence create a ‘business records exception’ to the rule against hearsay and not a ‘testimony about business records exception.’”
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