Maine Regulations § 270-2-6 GENERAL EVIDENCE

1. Evidence shall be admitted if it is the kind of evidence upon which reasonable persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs. The Commission may exclude irrelevant or unduly repetitious evidence.

2. Commission Evidence . Any results of Commission investigations or data gathered during Commission investigations may be introduced into the record by the Commission. The Commission may also present such other evidence as it deems appropriate.

3. Official Notice . The Commission may, at any time, take official notice of relevant laws, official regulations and transcripts of other Commission hearings, judicially recognizable facts, generally recognized facts of common knowledge to the general public and physical, technical or scientific facts within its specialized knowledge. The Commission shall include in any final written decision those facts of which it took official notice unless those facts are included in the transcript of the record.

4. Documentary and Real Evidence . All documents, materials and objects offered in evidence as exhibits shall be numbered or otherwise identified. Documentary evidence may be received in the form of copies or excerpts if the original is not readily available.

5. Objections . All objections to rulings of the presiding officer regarding evidence or procedure and the grounds therefor 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 Commission determines that the 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.

6. Offer of Proof . An offer of proof may be made in connection with an objection to a ruling of the presiding officer excluding or rejecting any testimony or question on cross-examination. Such offer of proof shall consist of a statement of the substance of the proffered evidence or that which is expected to be shown by the answer of the witness.