House passes bill to update 150-year-old evidence code

A bill to modernize 150-year-old rules of evidence in Georgia was passed with little opposition today in the House of Representatives.

House Bill 24, which passed 162-5, would change the way evidence can be entered in court cases and remove archaic exceptions to the law that already have been outlawed in other states, officials said.

"This is probably the largest bill you'll see in the Legislature," Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, said to his colleagues.

The laws on evidence in Georgia haven't been rewritten since 1868, Willard said. Since that time, 44 states have adopted similar bills to update their codes, he said.

Now the bill will go to the Senate, where it was stopped last year.

For complete details, see tomorrow's Times Free Press.

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