ADMISSIBILITY

admissibility  (ad-mis-<<schwa>>-bil-<<schwa>>-tee),  n.  The  quality  or  state  of  being

allowed to be entered into evidence in a hearing, trial, or other proceeding. [Cases: Federal Civil

Procedure    2011; Trial    43.C.J.S. Trial § 162.]

“ ‘Admissibility’ can best be thought of as a concept consisting of two quite different aspects:

disclosure to the trier of fact and express or implied permission to use as ‘evidence.’ If we think of

admissibility as a question of disclosure or nondisclosure, it is usually easy to say whether or not

an  item  of  evidence  has  been  admitted.  When  we  consider  the  question  of  permissible  use,  the

concept  seems  much  more  complex.  In  the  first  place,  evidence  may  be  ‘admissible’  for  one

purpose but not for another…. In the second place, questions of the permissible use of evidence do

not  arise  only  at  the  time  of  disclosure  to  the  trier  of  fact.  The  court  may  have  to  consider

admissibility  in  deciding  whether  to  give  the  jury  a  limiting  instruction,  whether  or  not  an

opponent’s rebuttal evidence is relevant, and whether or not counsel can argue to the jury that the

evidence proves a  particular point.” 22 Charles Alan Wright & Kenneth W. Graham Jr., Federal

Practice and Procedure § 5193, at 184 (1978).

conditional  admissibility.The  evidentiary  rule  that  when  a  piece  of  evidence  is  not  itself

admissible,  but  is  ad-missible  if  certain  other  facts  make  it  relevant,  the  evidence  becomes

admissible  on  condition  that  counsel  later  introduce  the  connecting  facts.  •  If  counsel  does  not

satisfy this condition, the opponent is entitled to have the conditionally admitted piece of evidence

struck  from  the record, and to  have the judge instruct the jury to  disre-gard it. [Cases:  Criminal

Law    672, 681; Federal Civil Procedure    2014; Trial    51. C.J.S. Criminal Law § 1217; Trial §

177.]

curative  admissibility.The  rule  that  an  inadmissible  piece  of  evidence  may  be  admitted  if

offered to cure or counteract the effect of some similar piece of the opponent’s evidence that itself

should not have been admitted. [Cases: Criminal Law    396; Evidence    155. C.J.S. Criminal Law

§ 758; Evidence §§ 248–250.]

limited admissibility.The principle that testimony or exhibits may be admitted into evidence

for  a  restricted  purpose.  •  Common  examples  are  admitting  prior  contradictory  testimony  to

impeach a witness but not to establish the truth, and admitting evidence against one party but not

another. The trial court  must, upon request, instruct the jury  properly about the applicable limits

when  admitting  the  evidence.  Fed.  R. Evid.  105.  [Cases:  Criminal  Law    385;  Trial    54.  C.J.S.

Criminal Law §§ 656, 753; Trial § 179.]

multiple admissibility.The evidentiary rule that, although a piece of evidence is inadmissible

under  one  rule  for  the  purpose  given  in  offering it, it is  nevertheless admissible  if  relevant  and

offered  for  some  other  purpose  not  forbidden  by  the  rules  of  evidence.  [Cases:  Criminal  Law

385; Trial    54. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 656, 753; Trial § 179.][Blacks Law 8th]