Evidence Bar Prep

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Rule 101 SCOPE

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These rules govern proceedings in the courts of the United States and Before US bankruptcy judges and United States magistrate judges, to h extent and with the exceptions stated in Rule 101

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Federal Rules preemption

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Where conflicts arise between the Federal Rules and common law rules, the Federal Rules will control.

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Rule 102 - Purpose and Construction

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These rules shall be construed to secure fairness in administration, elimination of unjustifiable expense and delay, and promotion of growth and development of the law of evidence, to the end that the truth maybe ascertained and proceedings justly determined.

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Rule 103 - Rulings on Evidence

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a) effects of erroneous ruling. Error may not be predicated upon a ruling which admits or excludes evidence unless a substantial right of the party is affected and 1) Objection or 2) Offer of Proof

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rule 103 objection

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Objection. In case the ruling is one admitting evidence, a timely objection or motion to strike appears of record, stating the specific ground of objection, if the specific ground was not apparent from the context.

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rule 103 Offer of Proof

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In case the ruling is on excluding evidence, the substance of the evidence was made known to the court by offer or was apparent from the context within which questions were asked

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Rule 103 ruling

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Once the court makes a definitive ruling on the record admitting or excluding evidence, either at or before trial, a party need not renew an objection or offer up proof to preserve a claim of error for appeal.

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OFFER OF PROOF

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Where evidence is ruled inadmissible at trial, an oral or written explanation must be made on the record to enable appellate review. Such an offer of proof, which is generally made out of the hearing of the jury, must address the relevancy and the admissibility of the excluded evidence. Offers of proof are generally not required where the substance of the evidence and the basis for admissibility is apparent from the context.

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Record of offer and ruling

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The Court may add any other or further statement which shows the character of the evidence, the form in which it was offered, the objection made, and the ruling thereon. It may direct the making of an offer in question and answer form.

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Rulings - Role of Judge

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It is the exclusive province of the trial judge to rule on the admissibility of any given item of evidence as a matter of law.

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Rulings- role of jury

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Once evidence has been admitted, it is the function of the fact finder (Jury) to determine the weight and credibility of the evidence.

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Appellate Review of Trial Court Rulings

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Specific requirements must be met for an appellate court to reverse a trial court's admission or exclusion of evidence.

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Appellate Review where a trial court admitted evidence

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Improperly admitted evidence may require reversal where a timely, valid, and specific objection was made resulting in prejudicial error. In extraordinary circumstances when the error is obvious and causes a miscarriage of justice, an appellate court can reverse even in the absence of an objection.

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Timely objection

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A timely objection is one made as soon as the opposing attorney should reasonably know that valid grounds for objection exist. An objection made after the answer is given must be in the form of a motion to strike with instructions to the jury to disregard the evidence.

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Appellate review where the trial court excluded evidence

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In this case, reversal can occur only where no valid grounds for objection existed, resulting in prejudicial error and an offer of proof was made to establish relevancy of the excluded evidence.

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Appellate review - prejudicial error

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If the jury verdict would not have been affected by the trial court's ruling, then only harmless error has occurred and no relief will be granted by the reviewing court. Prejudicial error which affects substantial rights (such as the outcome of the trial) must be found before a reviewing court will grant relief for an erroneous evidentiary ruling by the trial court.

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General Objection

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An objection which fails to state the proper legal ground on which it is based is insufficient to preserve and issue for appear unless 1) The specific ground is obvious from the context; or 2) admission o exclusion of the objectionable evidence constitutes "plain error" by denying the defendant a fair trial.

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Does the plain error test apply to civil and criminal cases?

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Yes, the Federal Rules apply plain error to civil and criminal cases.

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Specific objections:

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When an objection states the precise legal ground on which it is based, it is sufficient to preserve an issue for appeal; however, to obtain a reversal on appeal, the specific objection must have been valid for the ground stated.