Objections Cheatsheet

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Checklist

General Irrelevance (see Relevance) ☐ Eliciting evidence supporting a Motion not before the Court ☐ Contradicting Collateral Facts (see Collateral Fact Rule) Premature Evidence ☐ No foundation/Assumes facts not proven ☐ Eliciting evidence supporting a Motion not before the Court Improperly Phrased Questions ☐ Compound Question ☐ Vague/Misleading question ☐ Misquoting prior evidence/statement Uncivil Questions ☐ Asked and answered ☐ Badgering, harassing witness ☐ arguing with witness ☐ Monologuing/Editorizating Evidence unconnected to incident at issue ☐ a prior consistent statement as "oath helping" (see Prior Consistent Statements) ☐ Character of accused not admissible unless accused put his character in issue (see Character of Accused) ☐ Character of victim presumed not relevant unless "probative value outweighs its prejudicial effect" (see Character of Non-Accused Persons) Evidence that generally is prohibited by Rules of Evidence ☐ Hearsay ☐ Question seeks answer NOT in direct knowledge of the accused ☐ Asking witness for expert opinion (see Expert Evidence) ☐ Eliciting Privileged information (see Solicitor-Client Privilege; Informer Privilege; Litigation Privilege) Evidence-in-Chief ☐ Leading Question on evidence other than uncontentious evidence (See Examination-in-Chief) Defence evidence ☐ Eliciting evidence contradicting Crown evidence without first confronting the Crown witness (Rule in Browne v Dunn) Prior Sexual History (assuming enumerated sexual offence) ☐ Sexual contact with anyone, except contact at issue in trial (see Complainant's Sexual Activity Evidence) ☐ Eliciting any information that is contained in private records, including medical, personal diaries, etc. (see Production of Records for Sexual Offences) Sexual Assault Myths ☐ Failure of the complainant to "fight back" ☐ Failure of the complainant to "scream" or "call for help" ☐ Failure of the complainant to report the assault in a timely manner