Description An out of court statement being offered in court to prove the matter of the truth of the matter asserted. Policy and Purpose Prevents a witness from giving unreliable and possibly false testimony from someone who might not be cross examined. Examples What did Molly say to Laura during lunch?”(In this case, the attorney […]
Reliability
Lack of Personal/Professional Knowledge
Description When an attorney asks for something the witness does not have any knowledge of, the question calls for unreliable information. Purpose/Policy/Reason Witnesses should only testify about their personal experiences, rather than make suppositions about what they think could happen. Examples Could you tell us what thought happened to your wife that night?” (In this […]
Speculation
Description When an attorney asks a witness questions about a different person’s actions or thought process, without foundation for the witness knowing anything about the person’s actions or thought process. Purpose/Policy/Reason Without this objection, witnesses would have to speculate about someone else’s actions or thought process, which is not allowed in a trial. Examples “Mr. […]
Lack of Foundation
Description When an attorney asks a witness questions about something that they haven’t proven they’re qualified to ask about. Purpose/Policy/Reason Without the objection for an inadequate foundation, attorneys would ask questions about things that witnesses are not qualified to answered and information that are not relevant to the trial. Examples “Mr. Hammersmith, was your house […]