Statements in Learned Treatises, Periodicals, or Pamphlets: When is a statement admissible?

• A. A statement contained in a treatise, periodical, or pamphlet if the statement is called to the attention of an expert witness on cross-examination or relied on by the expert on direct examination.
• B. A statement in a blog post.
• C. A statement in an unpublished manuscript.
• D. A statement in a government report.

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is a limited exception that lets a learned authority support or challenge an expert’s testimony, but only when that authority is brought to the expert’s attention in a specific way. Statements from learned treatises, periodicals, or pamphlets can be admitted through an expert if the material is actually used by the expert to form or explain the opinion on direct examination, or if the material is called to the expert’s attention during cross-examination. This keeps the use of such sources tied to how the expert relies on them, rather than allowing random publications to come in as general evidence.

Why this option fits: it describes precisely that process—admission of a statement contained in a learned treatise, periodical, or pamphlet only when the statement is brought to the attention of the expert witness on cross-examination or relied upon by the expert on direct examination. It relies on the authority of published, recognized sources and on the expert’s use of them, not on casual or unpublished writings.

Why the other choices don’t fit: a blog post isn’t a learned treatise, periodical, or pamphlet and isn’t the type of published authority this rule contemplates; an unpublished manuscript lacks publication and is not the sort of recognized published authority the rule requires; a government report is not within this specific learned-treatise exception, though it may come in under other rules, it isn’t the same category described here.