Evidence. The principle that a witness should testify to facts, not opinions, and that a nonexpert witness’s opinions are often excludable from evidence. • Traditionally, this principle is regarded as one of the important exclusionary rules in evidence law. It is based on the idea that a witness who has observed data should provide the […]
Palsgraf rule (pawlz-graf).Torts. The principle that negligent conduct resulting in injury will lead to liability only if the actor could have reasonably foreseen that the conduct would cause the injury. • In Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R., 162 N.E. 99 (N.Y. 1928), two railroad attendants negligently dislodged a package of fireworks from a man they
error-of-judgment rule. The doctrine that a professional is not liable to a client for advice or an opinion given in good faith and with an honest belief that the advice was in the client’s best interests, but that was based on a mistake either in judgment or in analyzing an unsettled area of the professional’s
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A witness’s belief, thought, inference, or conclusion concerning a fact or facts. Fed. R. Evid. 701–705. See OPINION(3); OPINION RULE. [Cases: Criminal Law 448; Evidence 470–574. C.J.S. Criminal Law § 1050; Evidence §§ 223, 509–759, 800–812; Executions § 435.]
An opinion that the court has specifically designated as not for publication. • Court rules usu. prohibit citing an unpublished opinion as authority. Such an opinion is considered binding only on the parties to the particular case in which it is issued. Cf. slip opinion. [Cases: Courts 107. C.J.S. Courts §§ 165, 175; Criminal Law
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Ashwander rules. A set of principles outlining the U.S. Supreme Court’s policy of deciding constitutional questions only when necessary, and of avoiding a constitutional question if the case can be decided on the basis of another issue. • These rules were outlined in Justice Brandeis’s concurring opinion in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S.
Mansfield rule. The doctrine that a juror’s testimony or affidavit about juror misconduct may not be used to challenge the verdict. • The Mansfield rule is intended to ensure that jurors are heard through their verdict, not through their postverdict testimony. In practice, the rule lessens the possibility that losing parties will seek to penetrate
Marks rule. The doctrine that, when the U.S. Supreme Court issues a fractured, plurality opinion, the opinion of the justices concurring in the judgment on the narrowest grounds — that is, the legal standard with which a majority of the Court would agree — is considered the Court’s holding. Marks v. United States, 430 U.S.
opinion evidence 意见证据 指证人就争议问题陈述的自己的观点、看法或推论，区别于证人就自己所了解的案件事实而作的客观性陈述。证据规则通常不允许普通证人以其对案件事实的意见或推论作证，但是有例外，如因具有相应的科学技术或其他专业知识而具备专家资格的专家证人〔expert witness〕的意见可以作为证据采信；普通证人的意见证词一般只有在符合法律规定的少数例外情况下才可予采信，如美国《联邦证据规则》〔Federal Rules of Evidence〕规定，对普通证人以意见或推论形式作出的证词只有在符合：１合理建立在证人的感觉之上，和２对清楚理解该证人的证词或确定争议中的事实有益时，才可被采纳。
Interlocutory Appeals Act. A federal statute, enacted in 1958, that grants discretion to a U.S. court of appeals to review an interlocutory order in a civil case if the trial judge states in writing that the order involves a controlling question of law on which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion, and that
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