Code of Maine Rules
01 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY
001 - AGRICULTURE - GENERAL
Chapter 1 - RULES OF PROCEDURE GOVERNING PESTICIDE HEARINGS
Section 001-1-13 - General Evidence

Universal Citation: 01 ME Code Rules ยง 001-1-13

Current through 2024-38, September 18, 2024

A. Admissibility: Evidence which is relevant and material to the subject matter of the hearing and is of the type which reasonable persons are accustomed to rely upon in the conduct of serious affairs shall be admissible. Evidence which is irrelevant or unduly repetitious shall be excluded.

B. Official Notice:

1. The Commissioner and the Board may, at any time, take official notice of any facts of which judicial notice could be taken, and of general, technical or scientific matters within their specialized knowledge and the statutes, regulations and non-confidential agency records.

2. Notwithstanding subsection 1 hereof, both the Commissioner and the Board may rely upon their experience, technical competence and specialized knowledge in the evaluation of evidence presented to them.

C. Documentary and real evidence:

1. All documents, materials and objects offered in evidence as exhibits shall be numbered or otherwise identified. The presiding officer may require that any person offering any documentary or photographic evidence shall provide the Commissioner and the Board with a specified number of copies of such documents or photographs in advance of the hearing, unless they are determined to be of such form, size of character as not to be reasonably susceptible of reproduction.

2. All written testimony and documents, materials and objects admitted into evidence shall be made available during the course of the hearing for public examination and also available for public examination at the offices of either the Commissioner or the Board in Augusta during normal business hours.

3. Documentary evidence may be received in the form of excerpts if the entire document from which a portion is excerpted is available for inspection by the Commission, the Board and parties at the hearing.

D. No sworn written testimony may be admitted unless the author is available for cross-examination, except for good cause shown. Documentary evidence, in the form of scientific or technical reports, articles books and other publications and reports, may be admitted into evidence, even though the author is unavailable for questioning subject to exclusion by the presiding officer on the basis of the nature of the material submitted or the availability of the author.

E. All objections to rulings of the presiding officer regarding evidence, procedure and the grounds therefore shall be timely stated during the course of the hearing. If, during the course of or after the close of the hearing and during its deliberations, the Commissioner or the Board determines that a ruling of the presiding officer was in error, it may reopen the hearing or take such other action as it deems appropriate to correct such error.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Maine may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.