Chapter 6 - 6.7 Rebuttal

• Jurisdiction: Virginia

6.7 REBUTTAL

The purpose of rebuttal is to allow the plaintiff to address something brought up anew in the defendant's case.²¹⁸ If the rebuttal is simply to bolster the plaintiff's case or designed to give the plaintiff the opportunity to tell the story twice, then it is not proper rebuttal. If the plaintiff, however, can point to something unexpected in the defendant's case-in-chief and the proposed rebuttal evidence does more than simply buttress evidence already presented, then it should be admitted.

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