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Questions tagged [rules-of-evidence]

Rules that apply to the admission of evidence in a trial.

Canonical answers:

103 questions
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How did Dominion legally obtain text messages from Fox News hosts?

In the current case of Dominion v Fox News, we saw that text messages from Fox News hosts have been admitted as legal evidence in court. My understanding was that text messages either had to be turned voluntarily, or they had to be forcefully…
DevShark
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How is the burden of evidence distributed between parties?

I'm curious as to how the US legal system determines who should present evidence and how much evidence is required by them to prove one side of an argument against a counterargument. Here's an example I thought of when stuck behind a bus this…
Brian R
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Is it allowed to non-consensually submit someone's diary as evidence?

In episode 12, season 4 of The Office, called "The Deposition", the diary of a witness (Michael Scott) is used as evidence, without the witness's consent. The diary was taken by the suer, Jan Levinson, who was Soctt's girlfriend at the time. This…
user110391
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Can punishments be weakened if evidence was collected illegally?

Suppose police are investigating a burglary case. Under law, COVID-19 contact tracing data can only be used for contact tracing and nothing else. However a team decides to analyze the data anyway to collect more information. It ends up playing the…
dfc2136
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Is the jury informed when the person giving testimony has taken a plea deal in exchange for testifying?

In the film Law Abiding Citizen (2009) 2 men (Rupert and Clarence) are involved in a home invasion where the prosecution cuts a deal with Clarence in order to get Clarence to testify against Rupert during his trial. In such a situation Clarence will…
philn
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What would you be charged with for covering up a rightful death?

I'm referring to a specific situation that occurred in the TV show 24. Due to previous complex circumstances, a man (call him "Bob") destroys a van that is the scene of a murder and hides 2 bodies. Initially Bob had committed no crime; victim 1 was…
Ethan
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Does the exclusionary rule attach to the illegality of the search or to the person whose rights were violated?

Police blatantly illegally searches Bob's house and finds very strong evidence that Bob and Rob independently committed a horrific crime each. A variation: the crime is the same and Bob and Rob committed it together. Rob lives elsewhere and his…
Greendrake
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Are there any criminal jurisdictions where burden of proof rests so entirely on prosecution that defense does not need to deal with evidence?

In criminal trial processes that I'm aware of, particularly adversarial, burden of proof is nominally with the prosecution in most circumstances, but in practice it seems to be somewhat shared - both sides introduce witnesses, and both sides…
bdsl
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If the Jury considers evidence that should be discarded in the US, what would the result be?

This comes from the movie A Guilty Conscience, which may be one of the best movies of the past 20 years in Hong Kong and its box office is the highest ever. Movie Spoiler Warning What if the defendant's lawyer obtained some evidence that can prove…
Stefanie Gauss
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Legal/jurisprudential term to refer to any evidence that can be interpreted either way

Some time back, I had read a specific phrase used to refer to situations where some "evidence" can be interpreted either way. For example: Person A dies in a hospital and a syringe is found close to the body. Argument 1: Person A was killed by a…
info_seekeR
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Is propensity evidence ever allowed as circumstantial evidence?

I, being a non-expert in any country's/state's law, was somewhat surprised when it was said that propensity evidence isn't, in Wisconsin, legal evidence; see between 5.57 - 8.15 in this video about the Rittenhouse trial. I thought that propensity…
user110391
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Can messenger chat be used as evidence in courts?

My roommate agreed that I don't need to pay rent for the days I am not in apartment. I have to go to Texas for a 6 month period. I informed my roommate before adding him as roommate. We had this communication in WhatsApp chat. Can I use this chat in…
user2225190
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How do you prove a fact at issue in litigation?

Many questions on this site ask some variant of the question: "how does one prove something in court?" Paraphrasing a few: How can mens rea be proved? How do you prove that someone forged your signature? How do you prove that you didn't misuse a…
Jen
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Self-incriminating statements carry weight of proof

If someone is recorded confessing to a crime, can the recording serve as evidence solely because it contains the self-incriminating statement? Putting as an example: Carlos had his wallet stolen. In a meeting between colleagues, he records the…
Brit
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Can you de-identify a lawfully recorded audio-only call to lodge with the court and offer into evidence?

Bob, while providing lawful notice of call recording by beep-tone warning notification, records calls with a company that does not record calls where it ordinarily conveys information that exposes it to liability for policy-driven fraud affecting…
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