2024/2025 With 100% Correct Answers
To be relevant, evidence must:
A: Be more likely true than not true
B: Directly prove the fact it is offered to prove
C: Have some tendency to make a fact of consequence more or less probable
D: Prove an element of the claim, crime, or defense - correct answers ✔✔C
Relevant evidence:
A: Must be admitted.
B: May be excluded by other rules.
C: Cannot be excluded by other rules.
D: May only be excluded if it is privileged. - correct answers ✔✔B
Relevant evidence is generally admissible but it may be excluded by many other rules. For example, Rule
403 expressly
states that otherwise relevant evidence may be excluded under its balancing test. Thus, A, C, and D are
not the best answers.
A plaintiff sued an airline for hearing damage when the plane allegedly suffered a sudden loss of cabin
pressure.
The airline offered evidence that none of the other 156 passengers complained. Is the evidence
relevant?
A: Yes, because the fact no one else complained has some tendency to make it less probable that the
plaintiff suffered harm from
a sudden depressurization.
B: Yes, because the the absence of other complaints conclusively disproves the plaintiff's complaint.
C: No, because the plaintiff may still have been injured, even if others were not.
,D: No, because the lack of complaints has too many alternative explanations that it would be too
confusing for the jury. - correct answers ✔✔A is the best answer because it has at least some tendency
to prove facts of consequence - such as whether a
depressurization occurred or whether the plaintiff was harmed by the alleged depressurization.
Especially considering the number
of other passengers potentially affected, this evidence is relevant.
A defendant is charged with distribution of cocaine. His lawyer offers evidence that his bank account
contains no
large deposits of money. Is the evidence relevant?
A: Yes, because it tends to show that the defendant did not make large profits as you may expect from a
distributor of cocaine.
B: Yes, because the evidence conclusively proves the defendant could not have distributed an expensive
drug like cocaine.
C: No, because the defendant could have hidden the money elsewhere.
D: No, because defendant's evidence is self-serving. - correct answers ✔✔A is the best answer because
the evidence does have some tendency to show the defendant did not make large sums of
money. It does not necessarily conclusively prove that, but it need not do so in order for the evidence to
be relevant. It need only
have ANY TENDENCY to prove that this fact of consequence is more or less probable.
Who decides preliminary questions about whether evidence is admissible?
A: The judge
B: The jury
C: The judge, but the jury may override the judge's decision
D: The jury, but the judge may override the jury's decision - correct answers ✔✔A
Circumstantial evidence:
A: Proves a fact directly
B: Is inadmissible
C: Is always admissible
, D: Requires a chain of inferences to prove a fact - correct answers ✔✔D is the best answer because it is
the definition of circumstantial evidence. It is the opposite of direct evidence (like
eyewitness testimony that proves a fact directly). It is admissible if it meets the other requirements of
the rules of evidence. Thus, D
is the best answer.
To make a timely objection to evidence you must object:
A: Before the jury is selected
B: When your opponent rests his or her case
C: When the basis for objecting is first apparent
D: At any time - correct answers ✔✔C
Evidence does not include:
A: Witness testimony
B: Documents
C: Expert opinion testimony
D: Legal Precedent - correct answers ✔✔D is an example of law, not evidence. Thus, it is not considered
evidence for the fact finder to consider. The court
decides questions of law and relies on precedent, not the fact finder.
In a jury trial, a criminal defendant is being tried for murder and claims that he killed the victim, but did
so in self defense. The prosecution wants to introduce gruesome photos of the victim, who was
repeatedly stabbed in the back. Is the court likely to admit this evidence over a Rule 403 objection?
A: Yes, because it is relevant to the crime of murder.
B: Yes, because the probative value of disproving the self defense claim is not substantially outweighed
by the danger of unfair
prejudice.
C: No, because the defendant's admission that he killed the victim removes any probative value of this
evidence.
D: No, because grusesome crime scene photos are likely to inflame the passions of a jury. - correct
answers ✔✔A is not the best answer because it does not even address the unfair prejudice balance of