Court Objections

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Judith Mason
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Court Objections

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San Andreas Judicial Branch
Self-Representation Database

Introduction
An objection is a formal protest raised during a trial, deposition or other procedure indicating that the objecting attorney wishes the judge to disallow either the testimony of a given witness or other evidence that would violate the rules of evidence or other procedural law. At trial, these are typically raised after the opposing party poses a question of the witness, but before the witness can answer, or when the opposing party seeks to enter an exhibit into evidence.

Once an attorney makes an objection, the judge then makes a ruling. If a judge sustains the objection, it means that the judge agrees with the objection and disallows the question, testimony or evidence. If the judge overrules the objection, it means that the judge disagrees with the objection and allows the question, testimony or evidence. The judge may also permit the attorney to rephrase the question to correct whatever was objectionable.

Below is a list of some of the potential objections that an attorney may raise during a court proceeding and the corresponding circumstances for which they may be used.
Court Objections
Argumentative (aka "Badgering")
  • This is not an objection to opposing counsel making a good point. It is used when the questioning attorney is not asking a question and is instead making an argument of law or application of law that should be argued in summation. It is only valid when the witness is not being asked a question that he or she can properly answer.
Asked and Answered
  • When the question being asked has both been asked and been answered before by this attorney and this witness. It is not an objection to a question on cross that has been covered in direct.
Assumes Facts Not in Evidence
  • A question by the directing attorney that contains information not yet in the record. On cross, the counsel is the one testifying, so this is not an objection.
Best Evidence
  • Used when the evidence being solicited is not the best source of the information. Usually occurs when a witness is being asked a question about a document that is available to be entered into evidence. The document should be entered as proof of its contents.
Beyond Scope (of direct, cross)
  • The evidence being solicited was not covered by the opposing counsel while questioning the witness and is not relevant to any of the previous issues covered.
  • This is NOT an objection to cross-questions that were not covered on direct.
Compound
  • The question is really two questions posed as one. Objection should only be used when the question is misleading and the answer could be misconstrued by the judge.
Cumulative
  • The material being asked has been covered before. This generally isn’t an issue in mock trials, where there are only four witnesses.
Hearsay
  • A statement made out of this court offered in court to prove the truth of the matter asserted. A statement is not hearsay if the words spoken are relevant, not what the words mean.
Improper Characterization
  • Used when a question or an answer describes something that is highly prejudicial and not helpful to the judge. A typical example is describing the defendant or her actions as "crazy." This is a charged word and has no real meaning unless the witness is a medical doctor who actually means "crazy." - It’s not a very useful objection most of the time because the objection generally draws more attention to the word and thus cements the idea into the minds of the jurors.
Improper Expert Opinion
  • Used when the testimony involves some degree of skill or expertise and the witness has not been entered as an expert in that area. Daubert challenges are covered under this objection, and do not have to come pre-trial.
Improper Lay Opinion
  • The witness is giving testimony that does not require an expertise, but is still an opinion that does not assist the jury in its understanding of the case.
Lack of Authentication
  • This is a question of foundation when trying to introduce a document into evidence. A document that is not self-authenticating or whose authenticity has not been stipulated to must be identified as true and accurate by a competent witness.
Lack of Foundation
  • The prerequisite evidence has not been entered that would make this evidence admissible. This could be proof that a confession has been made knowingly and voluntarily (predicate), that a witness is competent to testify to a fact, or that a document is admissible.
  • This is a good objection to make when you’re sure that the evidence about to come in is objectionable in some way, but you’re not sure how so.
Leading
  • The question on direct suggests an answer. This is (1) not a objection on cross, and (2) actually allowed in some circumstances.
More Prejudicial Than Probative
  • This is the argument: "The evidence being introduced is highly prejudicial to your client and this prejudice far outweighs the probative value."
  • This is not an objection of "This really hurts my case." All evidence by opposing counsel will hurt your case. An objectionable piece of evidence is one that not only hurts your case but is not relevant enough to the merits of your opponent’s case to be let in.
Non-responsive
  • The witness is not answering the question asked.
  • Opinions differ, but this objection is primarily thought to be used only by the person asking the question.
Relevance
  • The evidence being solicited does not relate to merits of the case or another admissible purpose such as foundation or permissible character evidence.
  • This is not the same as "Irrelevancy" which is neither a real objection nor a real word.
Speculation
  • The witness does not have first-hand knowledge of the fact she is testifying to.
  • This could be what someone else thought or why someone did something. It could also include what would have happened had x occurred.
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