Title 4, Evidence and Witnesses

In a prosecution for any criminal homicide, a photograph of the victim while alive shall be admissible evidence when offered by the district attorney to show the general appearance and condition of the victim while alive. [1987 c.2 §8]

As used in ORS 41.500 to 41.580, “secondary evidence” means a copy, or oral evidence, of an original writing or object. [1981 c.892 §81]

Certain evidence is necessary to the validity of particular acts or the proof of particular facts.

Evidence of a will shall be the written instrument itself, or secondary evidence of the contents of the will, in the cases prescribed by law. [Amended by 1969 c.591 §271]

No evidence is admissible to charge a person upon a representation as to the credit, skill or character of a third person, unless the representation, or some memorandum thereof, be in writing, and either subscribed by or in the handwriting of the party to be charged.

Every grant or assignment of any existing trust in lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods or things in action is void, unless it is in writing and subscribed by the party making it or by the lawfully authorized agent of the party.

Contracts made by telegraph shall be held to be in writing; and all communications sent by telegraph, and signed by the sender, or by the authority of the sender, shall be held to be in writing.

(1) In the following cases the agreement is void unless it, or some note or memorandum thereof, expressing the consideration, is in writing and subscribed by the party to be charged, or by the lawfully authorized agent of the party; evidence, therefore, of the agreement shall not…

Whenever an object, cognizable by the senses, has such a relation to the fact in dispute as to afford reasonable grounds of belief respecting it, or to make an item in the sum of the evidence, the object may be exhibited to the jury, or its existence, situation and character may …

(1) As used in this section, “peer review body” includes tissue committees, governing bodies or committees including medical staff committees of a health care facility licensed under ORS chapter 441, medical staff committees of the Department of Corrections and similar committees…

(1) All data shall be privileged and are not public records as defined in ORS 192.311 and shall not be admissible in evidence in any judicial proceeding except as provided under ORS 676.175. However, nothing in this section affects the admissibility in evidence of a party’s medic…

When the terms of an agreement have been reduced to writing by the parties, it is to be considered as containing all those terms, and therefore there can be, between the parties and their representatives or successors in interest, no evidence of the terms of the agreement, other …

Attempts to comply with the provisions of ORCP 32 I by a person receiving a demand shall be construed to be an offer to compromise and shall be inadmissible as evidence. Such attempts to comply with a demand shall not be considered an admission of engaging in the act or practice …

A plea to a charge of a traffic crime, as defined in ORS 801.545, and any judgment of conviction or acquittal of a person charged with a traffic crime, as defined by ORS 801.545, are not admissible in the trial of a subsequent civil action arising out of the same accident or occu…

Evidence of the contents of any wire or oral communication intercepted: (1) In violation of ORS 165.540 shall not be admissible in any court of this state, except as evidence of unlawful interception or when the evidence was created by the use of a video camera worn upon a law en…

The copy of the records described in ORCP 55 H or ORS 136.447 is admissible in evidence to the same extent as though the original thereof were offered and a custodian of hospital records had been present and testified to the matters stated in the affidavit. The affidavit is admis…

ORS 41.930 and ORCP 55 H apply in any proceedings in which testimony may be compelled. [1973 c.263 §8; 1979 c.284 §78] Note: ORCP 55 was repealed and replaced by the Council on Court Procedures Amendments promulgated on December 8, 2018, and effective January 1, 2020. The text of…

All writings, other than public writings, are private and may be sealed or unsealed.

The execution of a writing is the subscribing and delivering it, with or without affixing a seal.

A subscribing witness is one who sees a writing executed, or hears it acknowledged, and at the request of the party thereupon signs one’s name as a witness.

Any attested writing other than a will may be proved in the same manner as though it had not been attested.

A seal is a particular sign made to attest in the most formal manner the execution of an instrument.

The presence or absence of a seal, corporate or otherwise, shall have no effect upon the validity, enforceability or character of any written instrument except where specifically otherwise provided by statute. A writing under seal may be modified or discharged by writing not unde…

(1) For the purposes of ORS 40.510 (1)(a) and (d), each state officer and state agency may have a seal which, unless specifically provided otherwise by law, shall consist of an impression, imprint or likeness of the state seal accompanied by the name of the state officer or state…

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Electronic presence” means the relationship of two or more individuals in different locations communicating in real time to the same extent as if the individuals were physically present in the same location. (b) “Law” means statutes, administrati…

The language of a writing is to be interpreted according to the meaning it bears in the place of execution, unless the parties have reference to a different place.

In construing an instrument, the circumstances under which it was made, including the situation of the subject and of the parties, may be shown so that the judge is placed in the position of those whose language the judge is interpreting.

In the construction of an instrument, the office of the judge is simply to ascertain and declare what is, in terms or in substance, contained therein, not to insert what has been omitted, or to omit what has been inserted; and where there are several provisions or particulars, su…

In the construction of an instrument the intention of the parties is to be pursued if possible; and when a general and particular provision are inconsistent, the latter is paramount to the former. So a particular intent shall control a general one that is inconsistent with it.

The terms of a writing are presumed to have been used in their primary and general acceptation, but evidence is admissible that they have a technical, local, or otherwise peculiar signification and were used and understood in the particular instance, in which case the agreement s…

When the terms of an agreement have been intended in a different sense by the parties, that sense is to prevail, against either party, in which the party supposed the other understood it. When different constructions of a provision are otherwise equally proper, that construction …

When an instrument consists partly of written words and partly of a printed form, and the two are inconsistent, the former controls.

When the characters in which an instrument is written are difficult to be deciphered, or the language is not understood by the court, evidence of persons skilled in deciphering the characters, or who understand the language, is admissible to declare the characters or the meaning …

A written notice is to be construed according to the ordinary acceptation of its terms. Thus, a notice to the drawers or indorsers of a bill of exchange or promissory note, that it has been protested for want of acceptance or payment, shall be held to import that it has been duly…

Except for the recital of a consideration, the truth of the facts recited from the recital in a written instrument shall not be denied by the parties thereto, their representatives or successors in interest by a subsequent title. [1981 c.892 §83] _______________

The effect of a judgment, decree or final order in an action, suit or proceeding before a court or judge of this state or of the United States, having jurisdiction is as follows: (1) In case of a judgment, decree or order against a specific thing or in respect to the probate of a…

A judicial order, other than a judgment, decree or final order, in an action, suit or proceeding before a court or judge of this state or of the United States creates a disputable presumption concerning the matter directly determined between the same parties, their representative…

The parties are the same when those between whom the evidence is offered were adverse in the former case, and a judgment, decree or other determination could have been made between them alone, though other parties were joined.

That only is determined by a former judgment, decree or order which appears upon its face to have been so determined or which was actually and necessarily included therein or necessary thereto.

Whenever, pursuant to ORS 43.130 to 43.160, a party is bound by a record, and stands in the relation of surety for another, the latter is also bound from the time that the latter has notice of the action, suit or proceeding and a request from the surety to defend against it.

The effect of a judicial record of a sister state, the District of Columbia or a territory of the United States is the same in this state as in the place where it was made, except: (1) It can be enforced in this state only by an action, suit or proceeding; and (2) The authority o…

The effect of a judicial record of a court of admiralty of a foreign country is the same as if it were the record of a court of admiralty of the United States.

Any judicial record may be impeached and the presumption arising therefrom overcome by evidence of a want of jurisdiction, collusion between the parties, or fraud in the party offering the record. The jurisdiction sufficient to sustain a record is jurisdiction over the cause, ove…

Relevant official records and files of the Departments of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Space Force of the United States shall be accorded prima facie probative value in evidence before any court or agency in which there is an issue of fact as to the de…

It is the right of a witness to be protected from irrelevant, insulting or improper questions, and from harsh or insulting demeanor. The witness is to be detained only so long as the interests of justice require.

(1) Every person who has been, in good faith, served with a subpoena to attend as a witness before a court, judge, commissioner, referee or other officer, is exonerated from arrest, in a civil case, while going to the place of attendance, necessarily remaining there and returning…

A sheriff, deputy or some person specially appointed by the sheriff, but none other, is authorized and required to break into any building or vessel in which a witness may be concealed to prevent the service of a subpoena, and serve it on the witness.

(1) Whenever a court or judge makes an order for the temporary removal and production of a witness who is confined in a Department of Corrections institution within this state before a court or officer for the purpose of being orally examined this section applies. The superintend…

Every court, judge, clerk of a court, justice of the peace, certified shorthand reporter as defined in ORS 8.415 or notary public is authorized to take testimony in any action or proceeding, as are other persons in particular cases authorized by statute or the Oregon Rules of Civ…

A witness is presumed to speak the truth. This presumption, however, may be overcome by the manner in which the witness testifies, by the character of the testimony of the witness, or by evidence affecting the character or motives of the witness, or by contradictory evidence. Whe…