Also known as: preserve a claim of error · preservation of a claim of error · preserved claim of error · error preservation · preserving error for appeal
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A procedural requirement that a party must satisfy to challenge an evidentiary ruling on appeal. The party must timely object or move to strike and state the specific ground when evidence is admitted, or make an offer of proof when evidence is excluded, unless the ground or substance is apparent from context. The error must also affect a substantial right of the party.
Preston Pratt sued Prosperity Investments after a disputed stock sale. At trial Prosperity offered an internal memo through its expert. Pratt's counsel said only 'Objection' without naming any rule or ground. The court admitted the memo. On appeal Pratt argued the memo contained hearsay. The appellate court held the claim of error unpreserved because no specific ground was stated on the record.
Penelope Price sued Peak Performance for breach of a supply contract. Before trial the court ruled on the record that certain emails were admissible over a hearsay objection. At trial Peak Performance did not repeat the objection when the emails were offered. Price won and Peak Performance appealed. The appellate court reviewed the ruling because the pretrial decision was definitive and no renewal was required.
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No. The party must state the specific ground for the objection unless it is apparent from context. A general statement gives the trial court no opportunity to address the precise issue and therefore fails to preserve the claim.
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The party must make an offer of proof that informs the court of the substance of the excluded evidence unless that substance is already apparent from context. Without an adequate offer the appellate court cannot assess whether exclusion was erroneous or harmful.
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No. When the court states it will address objections as they arise at trial, a contemporaneous objection or motion to strike at the time the evidence is offered is required. The pretrial filing does not substitute for that step.
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No. A definitive pretrial or trial ruling eliminates any need to renew the objection or offer of proof to preserve the claim of error.
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