Rule Text
Actions and Proceedings. In civil actions and proceedings, the effect of a presumption respecting a fact which is an element of a claim or defense as to which federal law supplies the rule of decision is determined in accordance with federal law.
Amendment history: (Added by SCO 364 effective August 1, 1979)
Committee Notes
Actions and Proceedings. Whenever a state court looks to federal law to find the rule of decision with respect to a claim or defense, federal law will govern with respect to the effect of a presumption. Cf., Dice v. Akron, C. & Y. R.Co., 342 U.S. 359, 96 L.Ed. 398 (1952). See also the Reporter’s Comment accompany Rule 501. As Alaska Rule 301 prescribing the effect of presumptions is identical to the federal evidence rule, courts will seldom have to determine which law should be followed. The only potential conflict is in the case of a claim or defense for which the United States Congress has provided by statute for the shifting of the burden of persuasion or where the federal judiciary has interpreted the Constitution or a federal statute to require shifting the burden of persuasion and the Alaska rule is contra, or vice versa. Rule 302 will apply to such situations. Federal criminal cases will be litigated in federal courts, so no state rule is needed to deal with presumptions in such cases. But see Testa v. Katt, 330 U.S. 386, 91 L.Ed. 967 (1947).
