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What is a Motion in Limine?
A
motion in limine is a motion filed by a party to a lawsuit which
asks the court for an order or ruling limiting or preventing
certain evidence from being presented by the other side at the
trial of the case. Generally, this motion is filed in advance
of the trial, but a motion may be entertained by the court during
a trial, before the evidence in question is offered. The purpose
of this motion is to prevent the interjection of matters which
are irrelevant, inadmissible or prejudicial.
Most objections to the admissibility of evidence are made
when the evidence is offered at trial. Thus, the jury usually
hears the question and the witness' answer before the objection
is made or hears the other lawyer discuss this evidence in
his opening statement. The reason these motions are filed
in advance of the trial is to prevent the other party from
offering the evidence in front of the jury. Once the evidence
is offered, the "cat is out of the bag" and cannot
be put back in.
For instance, in most jurisdictions, past criminal convictions
are not admissible unless they are felony convictions within
the last 10 years. If a motion in limine is not filed and
granted before trial, and the defense lawyer asks the plaintiff
about a conviction of a misdemeanor, the jury will know that
the plaintiff has a criminal background.
The judge can sustain an objection against allowing the statement
into evidence and instruct the jury to disregard the question,
but as humans, they cannot really ever ignore such evidence.Thus,
the plaintiff's attorney will want to file a motion in limine
seeking to prevent the other side from even asking the question
at trial.
Sometimes, the evidence which is sought to be excluded by
a motion in limine might otherwise be admissible in court,
but because of the nature of its content, might be so prejudicial
to the other side as to warrant its exclusion.
An example of this occurs when gruesome photographs are offered
by one of the parties. Although those photos may show the
legitimate nature and extent of the plaintiff's injuries,
they may be so disgusting and horrible as to unduly influence
the jury's decision in favor of the plaintiff. Thus, courts
frequently grant motions in limine to exclude such evidence.
Another common reason lawyers file motions in limine is in
an attempt to prevent the other side's expert witness from
rendering his opinion to the jury. In order to render an expert
opinion, courts require that the so called expert must first
qualify as an expert in the field in which he is attempting
to offer an opinion. If such a witness lacks the appropriate
qualifications or has not been previously recognized by his
peers as possessing expertise on the subject, the court can
preclude him from testifying.
Of course, the party seeking to exclude this expert's testimony
will want to know ahead of time whether the witness will be
allowed to testify by the court. Thus, he will file a motion
in limine and the court will set a hearing to decide the issue
based upon the expected testimony of the expert.
Anytime there is a desire to prevent the other side from
attempting to offer damaging evidence which is not properly
allowed by the court, a motion in limine should be filed by
the lawyer in advance of trial to protect his client's interests.
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