3 Major Evidence Doctrines

3 Major Evidence Doctrines

  There are three major evidence doctrines used to exclude evidence at trial: relevance, hearsay, and authentication.   Relevance Relevant evidence is any evidence that tends to prove or disprove a critical fact in the case. As a general rule, all relevant...
2 Categories Of Evidence

2 Categories Of Evidence

In all criminal cases there are 2 categories of evidence: direct evidence and circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence is anything the witness observed through his senses.  “I saw this”  or “I heard this” or “I could smell alcohol on his breath” are common examples of...
6 Common Trial Objections

6 Common Trial Objections

There are six common objections urged at trial.  Two of them are rooted in the rules of evidence: hearsay and relevance and the other four tend to deal with the style of the question.   Relevance   Relevance is the first and most fundamental evidentiary...
7 Stages To A Criminal Trial

7 Stages To A Criminal Trial

What happens at trial?  Each trial has between 5-7 stages depending upon the actions of the defense team during the trial.  Now, each stage has its own unique procedures which will be discussed in this article.   Voir Dire   Voir Dire is a fancy French word...