District Court Trial Practice (Continued from page 32)


and streamline the presentation of evi- dence by requiring fewer witnesses and less of the Court’s time.


c). Proving the value of personal property


This issue often arises in District


Court trials. I have seen it come up with personal property destroyed in an auto collision, in a flood or removed by theft, and I am sure there are other contexts in which it arises. Each time I have en- countered this issue, my opponent has tried to convince the court that an expert was needed to opine as to the value of personal property. Luckily, Maryland law contains no such requirement. An owner of personal property is competent to offer an opinion of the value of his own property. “It is well-settled in this State that an owner of personal property in common use may express an opinion as to its value without qualification as an expert.” Christian v. State, 65 Md.App.


303, 307, 500 A.2d 341, 342 (1985), af- firmed on other grounds, 309 Md. 114, 522A.2d 945 (1987); see also, Maryland Casualty Co. v. Therm-O-Disc, Inc., 137 F.3d 780, 786 (1998). This is true in civil and criminal cases. Christian, 65 Md.App. at 307, 500 A.2d at 343. Additionally, “the fair-market value of common consumer goods…will usually be close or equal to their replacement cost.” Maryland Casualty Co., 137 F.3d at 786. This means that your client who lost a GPS unit, compact discs, or a new lamp in a collision, can present her claim for damages for these items to the court without the need for a costly or difficult to find expert.


d.) Exhibits Most courtrooms in the District Court


of Maryland are equipped with exhibit stickers located at the counsel table. It is always good practice to make sure your exhibits are pre-marked. With the volume of cases that are heard in the District Court, most judges want their dockets to move quickly and efficiently.


Nobody wants to wait while an unpre- pared lawyer fumbles around attempting to mark exhibits in the middle of a trial. In my experience, this problem is most commonly seen where a series of photos need to be marked (usually on the back so as not to obscure the image on the front). I keep a stack of yellow “Plain- tiff ’s Exhibit” stickers in my office so that I can have everything marked and ready to go before getting to the courthouse. At a minimum, take the time to arrive at the courtroom a few minutes early to mark your exhibits. A judge annoyed by delay is not likely to make a generous damages award.


e.) Proving up the collision One ever-present challenge in District


Court motor tort cases is showing the judge how the collision happened. Most of us have seen this done in various ways: A description of the scene given by witnesses without demonstrative aids; a description made with magnetic car figures on a magnetized chalkboard, a drawing on a whiteboard or easel; or a description using grainy, out-of-focus snapshots. Each of these methods lacks clarity, specificity, or reliability. My favorite way to show the court where and/or how the collision happened is by using the official land records for the municipality in which the collision occurred.1


These are usually available


through the municipalities’ land records office. Records of this type have several advantages over the myriad of other ways to convey the same information to the court. First, these records are self-authenticating as a certified copy of public records under Md. Rule 5-902 (a)(4). Second, they fall within the public records and reports exception to the hearsay rule. Md. Rule 5-803 (b) (8). Thus, they can be admitted into


1


Donald Daneman, Esq. showed me this technique. He often uses these types of records in criminal cases to cross-examine police officers by showing that they have testified to observations that would not have been visible from their purported location.


34 Trial Reporter Spring 2008


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