Title 12

Copies of letters testamentary and of administration and guardianship shall be primary evidence of the fact of administration and guardianship to the same extent as the original letters, provided such copies of letters are duly certified from the proper record of the proper offic…

Whenever the records of a county or of any court or office, or any part thereof, shall be transcribed in pursuance of law, the copy or transcribed record shall be evidence and shall prima facie have the same force and effect as the original from which the transcript was made. (Co…

Copies of official bonds or other instruments or papers, required to be kept by any officer of this state and transcripts from the books and proceedings required to be kept by any sworn officer of the state are presumptive evidence in any case and have the same effect as if the o…

The certificate of a notary public under his hand and seal of office or of any other authorized person under his hand and seal of the presentment for acceptance or demand of payment or protest for nonacceptance or nonpayment of any instrument governed by the commercial law or of …

The official entry of the proper officer on a paper shall be sufficient evidence of its registry. (Code 1907, §3999; Code 1923, §7697; Code 1940, T. 7, §409.)

If the original of any paper properly registered is lost or destroyed, a certified copy from the registry shall be deemed good secondary evidence. (Code 1907, §4000; Code 1923, §7698; Code 1940, T. 7, §410.)

Historical works, books of science or art and published maps or charts, when made by persons indifferent between the parties, are prima facie evidence of facts of general notoriety and interest. (Code 1923, §7720; Code 1940, T. 7, §413.)

All receipts, releases and discharges in writing, whether of a debt of record, a contract under seal or otherwise, and all judgments entered pursuant to pro tanto settlements, must have effect according to their terms and the intentions of the parties thereto. (Code 1852, §2282; …

Any provision of this division regulating the admissibility or proof of facts in any proceeding shall apply only if the admissibility or proof of such facts is not governed by the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, or any other rule of practice as may be adopted by the Supreme Cou…

Receipts for money are always only prima facie evidence of payment and may be denied or explained by parol evidence. (Code 1907, §3964; Code 1923, §7660; Code 1940, T. 7, §372.)

In all actions upon accounts, an itemized statement of the account, verified by the affidavit of a competent witness, taken before and certified by, a notary public or any officer having authority under the laws of this or another state to take and certify affidavits, is competen…

Every written contract, the foundation of the action, purporting to be executed by the party sought to be charged, his partner, agent or attorney-in-fact, is evidence of the existence of the debt or that the party undertook to perform the duty for which it was given and that it w…

Price current and commercial lists, printed at any commercial mart, are presumptive evidence of the value of any article of merchandise specified therein, at that place, at the date thereof and of the rate of exchange between that and other places, also of the rates of insurance,…

Direct testimony as to the market value is in the nature of opinion evidence; one need not be an expert or dealer in the article, but may testify as to value if he has had an opportunity for forming a correct opinion. (Code 1907, §3960; Code 1923, §7656; Code 1940, T. 7, §367.)

(a) In all civil actions brought in any court of the State of Alabama, proof by substantial evidence shall be required to submit an issue of fact to the trier of the facts. Proof by substantial evidence shall be required for purposes of testing the sufficiency of the evidence to …

Physical evidence connected with or collected in the investigation of a crime shall not be excluded from consideration by a jury or court due to a failure to prove the chain of custody of the evidence. Whenever a witness in a criminal trial identifies a physical piece of evidence…

Interpreters may be sworn to interpret truly, when necessary, and must be paid as witnesses in the case. (Code 1852, §2275; Code 1867, §2679; Code 1876, §3034; Code 1886, §2764; Code 1896, §1793; Code 1907, §4010; Code 1923, §7724; Code 1940, T. 7, §436.)

(a) Deaf person means any person either totally deaf, or who has defective hearing, or who has both defective hearing and speech. (b) For the purpose of this section, the term qualified interpreter means an interpreter certified by the National Registry of Interpreters for the De…

The presiding judge before whose court a case involving such handicapped person or persons described in Section 12-21-131, when requested to do so as provided in Section 12-21-133, must furnish said interpreter from a roster of interpreters kept by the Clerk of the Alabama Suprem…

It shall be the duty of any handicapped person described in Section 12-21-131 who desires the services of an interpreter as provided in Section 12-21-131, or his or her attorney of record to make known in writing to the presiding judge before whom such case is to be tried or hear…

The compensation of any interpreter who is called upon for service in any legal litigation as described in Section 12-21-131 shall be fixed at $15.00 for each day while on active call by the presiding judge, together with actual expenses incurred by said interpreter while on acti…

All testimony, except as otherwise directed, must be given in open court on the oath or affirmation of the witness. (Code 1852, §2301; Code 1867, §2703; Code 1876, §3057; Code 1886, §2763; Code 1896, §1792; Code 1907, §3958; Code 1923, §7654; Code 1940, T. 7, §363.)

(a) This section shall be known as the “Alabama Armed Services Accommodation Act.” (b) The Legislature finds it to be an important matter of public policy that an accommodation be made for military members who are asked to testify in civil or criminal trials in this state but are…

The sanction of an oath, or affirmation equivalent thereto, is necessary to the reception of any oral testimony. The court may frame such affirmation according to the religious faith of the witness. (Code 1907, §3959; Code 1923, §7655; Code 1940, T. 7, §364.)

The right of cross-examination, thorough and sifting, belongs to every party as to the witnesses called against him. If several parties to the same case have distinct interests, each may exercise this right. (Code 1907, §4017; Code 1923, §7731; Code 1940, T. 7, §443.)

Leading questions are generally allowed in cross-examinations and only in these, but the court may exercise a discretion in granting the right to the party calling the witness and in refusing it to the opposite party when, from the conduct of the witness or other reason, justice …

In the examination of witnesses and the introduction of evidence, it shall not be necessary to state or disclose to the court the substance of the anticipated answer of the witness or of the evidence sought to be introduced by the question in order to put the court in error in it…

Where there is an objection to a question propounded to a witness in the trial of any case and the objection is overruled, it shall not be necessary to make a motion to exclude the answer of the witness in order to put the court in error on its ruling on such objection. (Acts 192…

It is the right of a witness to be protected from improper questions and from harsh or insulting demeanor. (Code 1907, §4016; Code 1923, §7730; Code 1940, T. 7, §442.)

No person engaged in, connected with or employed on any newspaper, radio broadcasting station or television station, while engaged in a news-gathering capacity, shall be compelled to disclose in any legal proceeding or trial, before any court or before a grand jury of any court, …

(a) Any witness refusing to testify, unless privileged by law from testifying in the case, must be committed to the jail of the county, there to remain without bail until he consents to testify. (b) No witness so imprisoned shall be discharged at the adjournment of the court, or …

The costs of any deposition introduced, in whole or in part, into evidence at the trial by the party taking it shall be taxed as costs in the case upon the certificate of the person before whom the deposition was taken; the costs of depositions in other cases shall be taxed as co…

Any provision of this division regulating the admissibility or proof of facts in any proceeding shall apply only if the admissibility or proof of such facts is not governed by the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, or any other rule of practice as may be adopted by the Supreme Cou…

(a) For the purpose of the use of deposition testimony in any court proceeding in any civil action, the term “physician” as used in the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure or otherwise shall include any licensed Doctor of Chiropractic and any licensed podiatrist. (b) The provisions …

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) ACTIVE MEMBER. Therapy dog teams who have had recorded visits at facilities including hospitals, nursing homes, libraries, and extended care facilities in the past 18 months. (2) REGISTER…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) CERTIFIED FACILITY DOG. A trained working dog that is a graduate of an assistance dog organization, a nonprofit organization that sets standards of training for the health, welfare, task wo…

(a) Generally. If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the f…

No attorney or his clerk shall be competent or compelled to testify in any court in this state for or against the client as to any matter or thing, knowledge of which may have been acquired from the client, or as to advice or counsel to the client given by virtue of the relation …

(a) No objection must be allowed to the competency of a witness because of his conviction for any crime, except perjury or subornation of perjury. (b) As affecting his credibility, a witness may be examined touching his conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude, and his an…

In civil actions and proceedings, there must be no exclusion of any witness because he is a party or interested in the issue tried, except that no person having a pecuniary interest in the result of the action or proceeding shall be allowed to testify against the party to whom hi…

When the borrower is dead and usury is relied on as a defense, the representative of the borrower, having given 10 days’ notice to the plaintiff, or his attorney of his intention so to do, is a competent witness to prove the usury by swearing that he believes the contract to be u…

(a) Persons who have not the use of reason, such as idiots, lunatics during lunacy and children who do not understand the nature of an oath, are incompetent witnesses. (b) The court must, by examination, decide upon the capacity of one alleged to be incompetent from idiocy, lunac…

(a) As used in this section, unless a contrary meaning is clearly intended from the context in which the term appears, the following terms have the respective meanings hereinafter set forth and indicated: (1) CLERGYMAN. Any duly ordained, licensed or commissioned minister, pastor…

(a) At the request of any party to a pending case, or the attorney of a party, the clerk of the court must issue subpoenas for witnesses, whose addresses shall be given by the person requesting the subpoena, specifying therein the time and place for their appearance, the title of…

A witness who is an expert in any art, science, trade or profession may be compelled to appear and testify to an opinion as such expert in relation to any matter whenever such opinion is material evidence relevant to an issue on trial before a court or jury without payment or ten…

(a) Any witness who, after being subpoenaed, fails to attend pursuant to the mandate of the subpoena and remain until his testimony is given or he is discharged forfeits $100.00 to the use of the party summoning him, and the attendance of such witness may be compelled by attachme…