234 Ga. App. Evidence - Judicial Notice . In order for the trial court to take judicial notice of any fact, the court must first announce its intention to do so on the record, and give the parties an opportunity to be heard on whether judicial notice should be taken. Evidence - Impeaching own witness . A party may impeach its own witness with a contradictory statement, but not by means of a prior conviction.
Expert testimony is admissible regarding proper and improper techniques for interviewing children.
Hearsay - Necessity . Such testimony is trustworthy if the declarant's truthfulness is so clear from the surrounding circumstances that the test of cross-examination would be of marginal utility. The privilege regarding communications with corporate counsel belongs to the corporation, not to employees of the corporation. Corporate employees lack standing to assert the corporation's privilege or oppose a waiver of it. A corporate employee may assert an attorney-client privilege regarding conversations with corporate counsel only if they approach counsel for legal advice and make it clear that they do so in their individual capacities, if corporate counsel understands that there could be a conflict, and if they hold confidential conversations that are unrelated to the affairs of the corporation.