Also known as: carve · carves · carved · carving · carve-out · carveouts · exception · exclusion
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An explicit exception to a broad rule. The exception identifies a discrete circumstance in which the general prohibition or requirement does not apply, allowing the parties or court to achieve a result otherwise barred by the overarching provision.
The government charged Christopher Collins with assault. At the pretrial hearing the prosecutor moved to exclude the victim, Cassandra Cooper, from the courtroom. The court found clear and convincing evidence that her testimony would be materially altered by hearing other witnesses and stated the reasons on the record. The order therefore created a carveout permitting exclusion despite the general rule favoring victim attendance.
Continental Bank offered a prior recorded statement by its former employee. The employee had left the country and could not be located despite reasonable efforts. Because the proponent had not procured the absence, the court applied the carveout in Rule 804(a)(5)(A) and admitted the statement under the former-testimony exception.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Carlos Castillo orally promised to answer for his sister's debt to Compass Logistics. When the creditor sued, Castillo raised the statute of frauds. The court held that the suretyship provision applied but recognized a carveout for promises benefiting the promisor's own economic interest, allowing enforcement without a writing.
Cypress Technologies conveyed an access easement across its land to Central Dynamics but omitted the required description of the burdened parcel. The buyer relied on the conveyance and built a road. The court applied the carveout in § 2.9, enforcing the servitude despite noncompliance with the statute of frauds because of the buyer's justifiable reliance and change of position.
Police arrested Camila Cervantes after an unlawful stop and later obtained her confession following a valid warrant and Miranda warnings. The court found the confession admissible under the carveout for evidence whose connection to the initial illegality had become sufficiently attenuated to purge the taint.
Caleb Chang served a subpoena duces tecum on Christine Castro demanding production of attorney-client communications. Castro moved to quash. The court granted the motion under the carveout requiring quashal when the subpoena would compel disclosure of privileged matter for which no exception or waiver applied.
A carveout is an explicit, narrowly tailored exception listed within a representation or warranty that identifies specific facts or circumstances the broad statement does not cover. It shifts the burden of disclosure to the representing party and functions as a due diligence tool.
A court may exclude a victim only upon clear and convincing evidence that the victim's testimony would be materially altered by hearing other testimony. The court must still attempt to permit the fullest possible attendance and state its reasons on the record.
Yes. Certain promises benefiting the promisor's own economic interest, part performance, or equitable estoppel can create enforceable carveouts even when the general writing requirement is unmet.
Courts examine temporal proximity between the illegality and the evidence, the presence of intervening circumstances, and the flagrancy of official misconduct to decide whether the taint has dissipated.