Irrelevant or Immaterial Questions

• Author: Ashley S. Lipson
• Pages: 135-152

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C 6

Irrelevant or Immaterial

Questions

§6.100 Introduction

§6.200 Quick Explanation

§6.300 General Legal Analysis

§6.400 Problems Pertaining to Criminal Cases

§6.500 Problems Pertaining to Civil Cases

§6.600 Detecting Irrelevancy

§6.700 Relevancy/Irrelevancy as a Matter of Law

§6.701 Character Evidence

§6.701(a) Prior Crimes

§6.702 Habit Evidence

§6.703 Subsequent Remedial Measures

§6.704 Evidence of Offer of Compromise

§6.705 Payment of Medical Bills

§6.706 Evidence of Pleas

§6.707 Liability Insurance Exclusion

§6.708 Sex Crimes

§6.800 Selected State Rules and Cases

§6.100 Is It Admissible? 6-2

§6.100 Introduction

To be admissible, a question must be both

relevant and material. A question is irrelevant if it

has no relationship to the issues of the case. But

being “relevant” is only half the battle; a question

must also be “material.” For, even though a question

may be relevant, it might still be immaterial (and,

therefore, objectionable) if the information sought

is not determinative of the main issues in the case.

§6.200 Quick Explanation

A question is irrelevant if it has no bearing

whatsoever on the case. The test of relevance

is a very easy one to satisfy. A question will be

considered relevant as long as it infers or suggests

something about a disputed fact. “Materiality”

is a term that is often used synonymously with

relevance, but it is, in fact, a stricter standard.

To be material, the evidence must tend to prove

or disprove a fact that is critical to the outcome

of the case.

EXAMPLES:

1. What is the defendant’s race, religion, or

national origin?

2. Was the defendant ever arrested before

for the same crime of which he is charged

today?

3. How safely did Maniac Morrey drive one

year after the subject accident?

Every part of the first question is both

irrelevant and immaterial as a matter of law in

every jurisdiction of this country, unless, of course,

the case happens to involve discrimination or

deportation. As a general proposition, a person’s

racial background should never be used to imply

guilt, innocence, or liability.

The second question is immaterial because

an “arrest” by itself does not establish guilt.

As a matter of fact, a person is presumed to be

innocent of a crime until proven guilty beyond a

reasonable doubt.

The third question is relevant, but immaterial.

In an auto negligence case, an answer to the

question might tend to show that Morrey is an

“all around” bad (or good) driver; that would be

relevant. But, as a general proposition, events that

occur after the fact (i.e., after the event which is

the subject of the trial) are immaterial. Caution

in applying this proposition is urged; sometimes

subsequent events may be used to show prior

occurrences. Here is a subtle example—If a

suspect, days after a murder occurred, frantically

erases fingerprints on the murder weapon, stuffs

the victim into a suitcase, and then attempts to fly

to Rio, those subsequent acts might very well be

deemed relevant and material.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

Questions that do not lead to a solution or

answer to the key issues of the case.

OBJECT AND RESPOND

OBJECTION:

“Objection. The question is irrelevant

and immaterial.”

POTENTIAL RESPONSES TO

OBJECTION:

A. “The question is directly related to

_____________.”

B. [Oldest Trick-in-the-Book Response] “I

will link this up later.”

§6.300 General Legal Analysis

Fed. R. Evid. 402 starts with the very broad

proposition that:

All relevant evidence is admissible, except

as otherwise provided by the Constitution

of the United States, by Act of Congress,

by these rules, or by other rules prescribed

by the Supreme Court pursuant to statutory

authority. Evidence which is not relevant is

not admissible.

The rule simply states that relevant evidence,

not otherwise objectionable, is admissible. The

Federal Rules, in general, provide a very “liberal

standard” which favors the admission of evidence

if it has any “probative value” for the proof of a

material fact.1 Rule 402, in particular, is intended to