Opinion ID: 1494221
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Preliminary Statement on the Admissibility or Exclusion of Evidence

Text: The ultimate purpose of admitting or excluding evidence is to assist the jury's understanding of the underlying factual bases for its application of the law. For this reason, relevant evidence is presumptively admissible unless barred by constitutional restraints, statutory law, decisional law or court rules. [4] Courts often provide for the admissibility of certain evidence for only limited purposes when that evidence might be barred for one purpose but admissible for another. In such instances the law requires that the trial judge instruct the jury accordingly. [5] This procedure is calculated to provide the jury with the adequate factual base and breadth of understanding that it needs to render a fair verdict consistent with the truth, [6] while striking the proper balance between relevant evidence and potential prejudice. Normally the decision whether to admit or exclude evidence rests in the discretion of the trial judge, and the decision of the judge can be reversed only for abuse of that discretion. If objection is not made, the plain error standard of review is applied. The prejudicial effect of the proffered evidence is often the determinative consideration, requiring the trial judge to make a threshold balancing of probative value and the danger of undue prejudice. [7]