Also known as: excludables · excludability · exclude · excludes · excluded · excluding · exclusion · exclusions · inadmissible
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A period of delay or item that a statute or rule directs a court to omit from a prescribed calculation or consideration. The omission occurs when the period or item meets criteria set out in the governing provision.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Prosecutor seeks to introduce a prior deposition given by witness Elena who has since disappeared. Defense objects on hearsay grounds. The court finds Elena unavailable under the rule and admits the deposition because the proponent did not cause the unavailability. The resulting two-week continuance is treated as an excludable period.
Defendant Evelyn broke into a cabin to escape a forest fire. Charged with burglary, she claims the act avoided greater harm. The court holds the justification applies because the fire posed a greater evil than the property offense and no statute bars the defense. The resulting delay for the justification hearing is marked excludable.
Neighbor Elise claims an easement preventing owner Ewan from building above a certain height. The court rules the claimed right is not an easement but a restrictive covenant because negative easements fall outside the easement definition. The two-month period spent litigating the classification is recorded as excludable time.
Prosecutor strikes all Black venire members from the jury panel. Defendant Elise makes a prima facie showing of racial motivation. The court requires the prosecutor to give race-neutral reasons and ultimately sustains the Batson challenge. The resulting three-week continuance is deemed an excludable period.
Resident Elena petitions to adopt a child in her county. The court applies state law filling the UCCJEA gap because adoption proceedings are excluded from that act's coverage and most states have added adoption to their jurisdictional statutes. The four-week period resolving the gap is treated as excludable.
Defendant Evergreen Bank moves to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) and attaches an affidavit. The court declines to exclude the affidavit and converts the motion to one for summary judgment after giving both parties notice and opportunity to present additional material. The resulting delay is logged as an excludable period.
A period is excludable when it results from one of the specific proceedings or circumstances listed in the statute, such as competency hearings or other enumerated delays. These periods are omitted from the seventy-day clock.
Supporting sources
…Me. Rev. Stat. Ann., Tit. 17, § 51 (1964); Mass. Gen. Laws Ann., c. 272, § 19 (1970) (using the term "unlawfully," construed to exclude an abortion to save the mother's life, Kudish v. Bd. of Registration , 356 Mass. 98, 248 N. E. 2d 264 (1969)); Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.14 (1948); Minn. Stat. § 617.18 (1971); Mo. Rev.…