A personal injury trial can be an exciting and nerve-wracking experience. If you have never been involved with a trial before, you are likely feeling a little uneasy as to what to expect. This is completely normal and our lawyers are available to help ease you through the process. You should hesitate before attempting to navigate the legal system alone. While many civil courts allow for pro se litigants, you will be much better off by retaining one of our lawyers to help you with your claim. An injury lawyer will be very experienced with a trial and will know exactly when to object on your behalf. The following detail just a few of the vast amount of evidentiary objections and issues commonly raised in a civil personal injury trial.
- Relevance: The law requires that any evidence must be relevant before it is admissible. This does not mean that all proffered evidence must be conclusive of some material aspect of the claim. It does require that any proffered evidence must make any material aspect of the claim more or less likely than it would be without the evidence. If evidence is irrelevant, it is inadmissible. Your injury lawyer will know what to look for during the trial to ensure that no irrelevant and potentially harmful evidence is admitted by the opposing party.
- Probative: Sometimes evidence is relevant, but it is so shocking, distracting, confusing, technical or repetitive that it can tend to confuse or distract the jury from the real issues. This is not to imply that the jury is incapable of discerning the importance of evidence, but occasionally a party may object under rule 403 of the rules of evidence. Rule 403 is described as follows: “Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.” Your injury lawyer or the opponent may raise this type of objection to any evidence which could set forth an unfair prejudice or confusion.
- Proper Authetication: Any time a party seeks to introduce evidence in the form of a document or a picture, it must be properly authenticated. This simply means that the party putting forth the evidence must satisfy the court that the item is what the proponent purports it to be. For a photograph to be properly authenticated, someone with knowledge of the image depicted therein will give a short testimonial assurance that the image is what the plaintiff or defendant is saying it is. For a document, similar authentication is required. Some documents are self-authenticating and these typically include government documents bearing a seal. Any time a document or photograph is not properly authenticated, the opposing party should object to its admission.
These are just three of the hundreds of available objections in a civil lawsuit. Your personal injury attorney will know every objection available to you and will raise all relevant objections on your behalf. Contact our office today to get started on your case!
