What do courtroom "procedural rules" and "rules of evidence" mean in the US?

Question

What do courtroom "procedural rules" and "rules of evidence" mean in the US? Please give some examples of each and how do they relate to each other. Thanks.

Answer 1

Rules of Evidence

In the federal courts, the rules of evidence can be found here. In state courts, with a handful of exceptions, state rules of evidence are modeled on, but not always exactly identical to, the federal rules of evidence.

Mostly, rules of evidence concern (1) what steps must be taken to present exhibits like documents or objects as evidence, and (2) what questions can be asked of witnesses in court cases.

Exhibits must generally be authenticated and relevant, and can't contain content that could only be solicited from a witness with an impermissible question (i.e. exhibits can't be used to circumvent rules of evidence applicable to witness testimony). The rules explain how this is done and how it is determined if it has been done properly.

Normally witnesses are limited in their ability to testify about irrelevant matters, character evidence, opinions about general knowledge (unless they are certified as expert witnesses), hearsay, and certain kinds of confidential information.

With each witness the person who called the witness conducts a direct examination (i.e. is asked questions in a certain form) by the lawyer who called that witness, then the other lawyer conducts cross-examination with questions asked in another form and limited to the scope of what was asked about in a direct examination, and then the lawyer who called the witness can ask follow up questions based upon the cross-examination called redirect examination. Any question can be interrupted by saying "I object" and mentioning the rule of evidence that was allegedly violated, and the judge rules on the spot if the objection was valid, either sustaining the objection (disallowing the question) or overruling the objection (allowing the witness to answer the question).

Courtroom Procedures

Courtroom procedures are sometimes fully or partially unwritten.

Some of it is the order of events in the courtroom, which generally start with an announcement of the case being discussed and a recital of who is present, then a discussion of preliminary matters, and then jury selection, then presentation of oral arguments, and then presentation of witnesses, first by the plaintiff or prosecution and then by the defense, with witnesses sometimes taken out of order out of logistical convenience, followed by rebuttal witnesses from the plaintiff or prosecution, followed by closing arguments, reading of jury instructions, deliberations of the jury, and then reporting of a verdict in open court.

There are rules about standing up until told to sit down when a judge or jurors enter the courtroom, about whose turn it is to speak, about when witnesses have to wait in the hallway outside until it is their turn to testify, about where the lawyers and parties and audience members are allowed to sit within the courtroom, about jury behavior and turning off cell phones, and about what has to be discussed privately with the judge out of earshot of the jury, and when evidence objections have to be presented.

Other Court Rules

Pretrial procedural is summarized in a civil case in the federal rules of civil procedure in most non-criminal cases, and in parallel state rules in state court. This explains what papers must be filed with the court at the start of a case (called pleadings), the method for delivering different kinds of court papers (Rules 4, 5 and 45), when information has to be disclosed or provided, how motions to throw out cases in whole or in part at different parts of a case are handled (Rule 12, 56, 59, and 60), how telephone testimony is handled (Rule 43), how judgments are enforced after a case is over, and so on.

Parallel rules exist for criminal cases and certain other kinds of special proceedings (like probate cases and bankruptcy cases and evictions).

In addition to court rules and unwritten rules, there are also statutes that govern some issues, like court jurisdiction.

All of these procedural rules and rules of evidence are further interpreted and spelled out with case law and generalized court orders from particular judges in particular cases.