Rules of Evidence

The way that evidence is presented during a trial is done according to a set of rules passed into legislation by the federal government.

The rules have 11 subsections, including a general overview of how evidence can be submitted, the definition of relevancy and how it limits what can be considered and what cannot be considered, privileges of all parties to the case, how to handle witnesses, opinions, and expert testimony, how to authenticate evidence, and more.

One important reason for the rules of evidence is to make sure that all the evidence was gained through legal avenues. Evidence could be excluded from a court case if it was seized illegally or if there are long periods of time where that evidence could not be accounted for after it was collected.

These strict rules protect the defendant’s rights and upholds the integrity of the truth of evidence submitted to the court.

A Columbia, Maryland family law attorney can provide more information about the rules of evidence.