Evidence and Admissibility
Foundations
The rule allows exclusion for unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, waste of time, and needless cumulative evidence. The standard favors admission by requiring substantial outweighing.
Rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion.
Alternative Names:
403 Balancing|Probative Value Balancing
Why it Matters?
The substantially outweighed formulation tilts toward admission, which means a 403 objection succeeds only where the prejudice is genuinely disproportionate rather than merely present. Offering a stipulation to the underlying fact strengthens the argument by reducing the evidence's probative value, since a fact already established gains little from graphic proof. Cumulative evidence objections are underused and succeed where multiple witnesses would testify to the same point.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Why does the standard favor admission?
How does a stipulation strengthen the objection?
