Law words

Question 1

Relevance

Answer 1

According to Rule 403 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, the court may exclude evidence, even if relevant, if its probative value is outweighed by the potential for unfair prejudice or other harms to the jury process. Accordingly, the judge must weigh these considerations when ruling on a relevance objection.

Question 2

Leading question

Answer 2

putting words in the witnesses’ mouth

Question 3

Compound question

Answer 3

when a question contains multiple inquiries

Question 4

Argumentative (badgering the witness)

Answer 4

A question can be objected to as being argumentative when it does not seek new information, but instead seeks to have the witness agree with an inference or conclusion

Question 5

Asked and answered

Answer 5

This objection is raised when an attorney asks a question that has already been asked and sufficiently answered. The goal of the objection is to prevent attorneys from asking the same question in different ways to elicit a different response.

Question 6

Vague

Answer 6

When a question is unclear or lacks specificity, you can object on the grounds of it being vague. A vague question makes it difficult for the witness to provide a meaningful answer. Sometimes this objection is phrased as “ambiguous” or “vague and ambiguous.”

Question 7

Speculation

Answer 7

“Calls for speculation” is an appropriate objection to a question that requires the witness to guess or speculate on an issue where they do not possess direct knowledge.

(can also be used if a witness is speculating)

Question 8

Hearsay

Answer 8

objection to evidence that relies on secondhand information—such as what the witness heard someone else say

Question 9

Privilege

Answer 9

You can object to any question that seeks information protected by a form of privilege, such as the attorney-client privilege. Since maintaining privilege is one of the ethical duties of a lawyer, these objections are usually sustained.

Question 10

Violation of best evidence rule

Answer 10

The best evidence rule applies when a party seeks to admit a writing, recording, or photograph into evidence. The rule provides that unless the original is unobtainable, the party must use the original item. You can object to evidence that doesn’t follow the best evidence rule.