Also known as: exhibits · exhibited · exhibiting · exhibition · exhibere · evidence · production
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An item of tangible evidence offered at trial as opposed to oral testimony. The item must satisfy applicable rules of evidence and undergo mechanical steps such as marking for identification to ensure clarity in the record.
Evelyn Ellison purchased property from Edward Everett under a contract containing a merger clause. At closing the deed was marked as Plaintiff's Exhibit 1 and recorded. Evelyn later sought to enforce an oral promise about boundary fencing that was absent from the deed. The court refused to consider the prior promise because the deed had become the sole measure of obligations.
Eric Espinoza filed an answer denying that Enigma Technologies had delivered defective software. Defense counsel marked the testing logs as Defendant's Exhibit A and confirmed they were based on a reasonable investigation. The court accepted the denial as compliant with the signature requirements.
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Esme Ellington was charged with assault. The prosecutor attempted to introduce prior acts of violence as Defendant's Exhibit 7 to show she acted aggressively on the charged occasion. The court excluded the exhibit because it was offered solely to prove conduct in conformity with a character trait.
Judge Elliot Edmonds received an unsolicited photograph from a third party showing the accident scene. The judge declined to mark or consider the photograph as Court Exhibit 2 because it had not been presented by the parties and was not subject to judicial notice.
Attorney Ewan Eckhart learned that a receipt offered as Plaintiff's Exhibit 4 by his client was fabricated. He immediately notified the tribunal and moved to withdraw the exhibit, disclosing the falsity as required.
Empire Logistics and Elite Dynamics executed a written supply contract. At trial Empire offered emails from pre-contract negotiations as Defendant's Exhibit 5 to show an additional delivery term. The court admitted the exhibit to determine whether the writing was completely integrated.
The offering attorney requests the court reporter to mark the item for identification as Plaintiff's or Defendant's Exhibit No. X. The attorney then authenticates the item through a witness with personal knowledge before offering it into evidence.
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Under the Federal Rules the record may be read to the jury but is received as an exhibit only if offered by an adverse party. Most courts follow this approach to avoid giving the document undue emphasis over live testimony.
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The proponent must authenticate the item by showing it is what it purports to be, usually through a witness with firsthand knowledge or other acceptable means under Article IX of the Federal Rules of Evidence.
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…if one claimed title to land under a patent from the United States and the Secretary refused a copy, a mandamus could compel production; to obtain a mandamus one must show the patent is recorded and clerks can be called to prove that fact. Similarly, if a private act of Congress had passed for one's benefit and a copy was…