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Recent Developments Under The Dead Man Statute, Douglas A. Wilson

Washington Law Review

The "Dead Man Statutes" of the several states, which exclude testimony by interested parties in certain cases, stand in the unique position of being condemned by all the modern writers on the law of evidence. Yet this exception to the abrogation of the common law rule against testimony by interested parties still survives in the majority of the states, and furthermore, the courts are generally agreed that the statutes are to be strictly construed. However, in the application to a particular set of facts, such as whether the interested survivor may deny that a transaction took place, or whether the …