Present Recollection Refreshed allows use of a record to refresh memory; if the memory cannot be recalled, the record may be read into evidence as a past recollection recorded.

Present Recollection Refreshed allows use of a record to refresh memory; if the memory cannot be recalled, the record may be read into evidence as a past recollection recorded.

• A. The record may be read into evidence only if the witness cannot recall
• B. The record must be read aloud immediately
• C. The record cannot be used at all
• D. The record can be used only if the judge approves

Answer: (B)

The concept being tested is how memory refreshment works and when a writing can become evidence. Present Recollection Refreshed lets a witness look at a writing to jog memory while testifying. If, after that refresh, the witness still cannot recall the details, the content of that writing may be read into evidence as a past recollection recorded. This rule means the writing is used to prove what the witness once knew only if their memory fails after refreshing. That makes the best choice: the record may be read into evidence only if the witness cannot recall. If the witness can recall after refreshing, the record isn’t read into evidence. The other options don’t fit: the record isn’t automatically read aloud in all cases, the rule doesn’t prohibit its use entirely, and there’s no mandatory judge approval requirement for this step.

The concept being tested is how memory refreshment works and when a writing can become evidence. Present Recollection Refreshed lets a witness look at a writing to jog memory while testifying. If, after that refresh, the witness still cannot recall the details, the content of that writing may be read into evidence as a past recollection recorded. This rule means the writing is used to prove what the witness once knew only if their memory fails after refreshing.

That makes the best choice: the record may be read into evidence only if the witness cannot recall. If the witness can recall after refreshing, the record isn’t read into evidence. The other options don’t fit: the record isn’t automatically read aloud in all cases, the rule doesn’t prohibit its use entirely, and there’s no mandatory judge approval requirement for this step.