Also known as: material evidences · probative evidence
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Evidence that bears a logical connection to facts of consequence in a proceeding or that would affect a decision maker's process.
Melissa Mills represents a plaintiff in a patent suit and offers an engineer's performance chart as an exhibit. After admission she receives internal files showing the engineer deliberately inflated the metrics. Mills must now decide whether to withdraw the exhibit or disclose the alteration to the judge because the chart directly supports the infringement claim.
Monica Morgan sues her former employer for discrimination and offers performance reviews to show pretext. The employer moves for summary judgment. The reviews create a genuine issue because a reasonable jury could find they support Morgan's claim of pretext.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Mina Mehta seeks to suppress drugs found in a car she borrowed. She offers testimony that she had permission to drive it regularly. The testimony is material because it tends to establish her legitimate expectation of privacy in the vehicle.
Marco Marquez moves to suppress a murder weapon located after an unlawful interrogation. The state offers evidence that search teams were already closing in on the site using independent leads. The evidence is material because it shows the weapon would have been found regardless of the violation.
Melanie Morris challenges a search conducted under a warrant later found defective. The officers present testimony that they relied on the warrant in objective good faith. The testimony is material because it determines whether the exclusionary rule applies.
Madison Meyers is charged with deliberate homicide and seeks to introduce evidence of extreme intoxication to negate purpose. The state objects that the evidence is immaterial under state law. The evidence is material because it directly addresses the mental state element the prosecution must prove.
Evidence is material when it has a logical connection to facts of consequence or would affect a decision maker's process. A lawyer who learns that material evidence offered by the client or a witness is false must take reasonable remedial measures, including disclosure if necessary.
No. Materiality requires only a reasonable probability that disclosure or correction would have led a decision maker to reach a different result or insist on trial. It does not demand conclusive proof of innocence or liability.
After a nonjury trial a court may grant a new trial on any equitable ground, including the emergence of genuinely new material evidence that could not reasonably have been presented earlier and that might change the result.
…faced in this case with the question whether a State might be required to defer to the decision of a surrogate if competent and probative evidence established that the patient herself had expressed a desire that the decision to terminate life-sustaining treatment be made for her by that individual. Petitioners also adumbrate in their…