California Trial Lawyer - Motions In Limine

Before Northern / Southern California trial attorney meet in the judge's chambers. One of the first matters taken up are Motions In Limine.

A Motion in Limine is a motion requesting the court, prior to trial, to make an order:
1. Determining: Evidentiary or procedural questions or restricting participant's conduct. Such a motions usually seeks to preclude parties, their Northern / Southern California trial attorneys, or witnesses from communicating to jurors irrelevant or inadmissible evidence that is either prejudicial or confusing.
     a. Example: Normally a prior misdemeanor conviction cannot be used to challenge the credibility of a witness. If the jury hears this evidence and the judge advises the jury to disregard it, the damage cannot be repaired because an instruction from the judge is not sufficient to cause the jury to put the fact out of their mind.

2. The motion may also be used to win the case by the motion alone.
     a. Example: To prove a negligence case a the Plaintiff must prove each and every one of the following elements:
          i. The Defendant committed an act or omitted to act (when under a duty to act).
          ii. The Defendant had a duty to the Plaintiff to act in a certain way.
          iii. The Defendant breached this duty.
          iv. The Defendant's conduct was the actual cause of the damages.
          v. The Defendant's conduct was the proximate cause of the damages.
          vi. The Plaintiff was damaged as a result of the above.

Assume the evidence Plaintiff intends to introduce proving Defendant committed an act is ruled as inadmissible in a pre-trial motion In Limine. If the motion is granted and no other evidence is available on the issue, one of the key elements of Plaintiff's case (his prima facia case) would be missing, resulting, for all practical purposes, in the loss of the case the moment the motion is granted.

In pedestrian accident cases, as in all personal injury cases (including traumatic brain accidents), sometimes these motions are made orally, without supporting paper work. But the best practice is to make them in writing. The motion is usually supported by a memorandum of points and authorities (cases and statutes) and declarations describing the nature of the case, and stating facts showing why the matter at issue is irrelevant or inadmissible or potentially prejudicial.

If the motion is granted it is filed with the clerk of the court, or at least entered into the court's minutes.