Rule 402. Relevant Evidence Generally Admissible; Irrelevant Evidence Inadmissible

• Library: South Carolina Evidence Annotated (SCBar) (2023 Ed.)

Rule 402. Relevant Evidence Generally Admissible; Irrelevant Evidence Inadmissible

All relevant evidence is admissible, except as otherwise provided by the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of South Carolina, statutes, these rules, or by other rules promulgated by the Supreme Court of South Carolina. Evidence which is not relevant is not admissible.

Note:

This rule is the federal rule amended to reference South Carolina law. The rule reflects the law in South Carolina. Levy v. Outdoor Resorts of South Carolina, Inc., 304 S.C. 427, 405 S.E.2d 387 (1991); State v. Petit, 144 S.C. 452, 142 S.E. 725 (1928).

Annotations Rule 402

402

Computer-Generated Evidence

Clark v. Cantrell, 339 S.C. 369, 384-85, 529 S.E.2d 528, 536-37 (2000).

Generally

We begin with the central premise of the law of evidence: "All relevant evidence is admissible and, "Evidence which is not relevant is not admissible." Rule 402, SCRE. State v. Middleton, _ S.C. _, _ S.E.2d _ (2023), 2023 WL 2591442, at *2 (S.C. Mar. 22, 2023).

"Generally, relevant evidence is admissible, and irrelevant evidence is inadmissible." Dawkins v. Sell, 434 S.C. 572, 589, 865 S.E.2d 1, 9 (Ct. App. 2021), reh'g denied (Dec. 2, 2021).

"For evidence to be admissible, it must be relevant." State v. Passio, 433 S.C. 666, 678, 861 S.E.2d 785, 791 (Ct. App. 2021), reh'g denied (Aug. 18, 2021).

"All relevant evidence is generally admissible. Rule 402, SCRE." State v. Sledge, 428 S.C. 40, 55, 832 S.E.2d 633, 641 (Ct. App. 2019).

Evidence must first be relevant for it to be admissible at trial. Rule 402, SCRE. Relevant evidence is defined as "evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence." Rule 401, SCRE. State v. Cross, 427 S.C. 465, 474, 832 S.E.2d 281...