Why Can’t Juries Hear All the Evidence? How Judges Decide What Jurors Know

The jury doesn’t have the final say on what evidence belongs in the case. The judge generally makes that decision. When an attorney objects to testimony or an exhibit, the judge may need to decide the issue before the jury hears any more. That can mean a sidebar, a hearing outside the jury’s presence, or even an instruction telling jurors to disregard something they already heard. It may look like courtroom housekeeping, but these decisions can significantly affect what information ultimately reaches the jury.

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Why Are Jurors Sometimes Asked To Leave the Courtroom?

Being told to leave the courtroom may sound like the jury is missing something important. In reality, that is often exactly the point. When lawyers argue about whether certain evidence should reach the jury, the judge may ask jurors to step out so they don’t hear information they may ultimately be told they cannot consider.

A jury trial has two very different decision-makers with two very different jobs:

1. The judge handles legal questions, including whether evidence is admissible
2. The jury handles factual questions, including what happened and whether a witness deserves to be believed.

That division matters, whether the case is criminal or civil. Suppose an attorney objects to a question because the answer could reveal privileged information. The lawyers may need to explain the problem to the judge before the judge can rule. Having that conversation in front of the jury could expose jurors to the very information the objection is trying to keep away from them.

So the judge may send the jury out, hear the arguments, and decide what happens next. It is a practical way to protect the jury from inadmissible evidence while allowing the attorneys to fully address the legal issue.

The same concern can arise during jury selection, when attorneys make challenges for cause or exercise peremptory challenges. But once the jury is seated, its role is narrower. Jurors evaluate the evidence admitted at trial, not which evidence the law allows into the case.

The Judge Decides What Comes In

The rules of evidence determine what information the jury can hear. A lawyer may object because testimony is irrelevant, hearsay, privileged, or otherwise inadmissible. The judge then decides whether to sustain or overrule the objection.

That decision is separate from deciding whether the testimony is true. A jury might believe a witness completely, but that does not mean the witness can testify about anything they want. Likewise, a piece of evidence might be legally admissible even though the jury ultimately finds it unconvincing.

Federal Rule of Evidence 104 gives judges responsibility for preliminary questions about whether evidence is admissible. It also allows the court to hold a hearing outside the jury’s presence when necessary.

What Happens During a Sidebar or Evidentiary Hearing?

A sidebar gives the judge and attorneys a chance to address an evidentiary issue without discussing the matter in front of the jury. An attorney may object to testimony or an exhibit, and the judge may determine that additional discussion is necessary.

The attorney must identify the problem with the evidence, the opposing side may need to respond, and the judge needs enough information to rule.

What looks like a quick whispered conversation at the bench can therefore serve several purposes at once: resolving the evidentiary dispute, keeping improper information away from the jury, and creating a record of what happened.

What Does It Mean When a Judge Strikes Testimony From the Record?

When a judge strikes testimony from the record, the court is directing the jury not to consider that testimony as evidence in deciding the case. The statement itself does not disappear. Instead, the court removes it from the evidence the jury may legally use.

That differs from evidence excluded before the jury heard it. It is also different from evidence admitted for a limited purpose. In the latter situation, the jury may consider the evidence for the purpose allowed by the judge but not for another purpose.

How Does Testimony Get Stricken?

An attorney may object to testimony from an eyewitness, an expert witness, or another witness on a variety of grounds. If the judge sustains the objection after the witness has already answered, the judge may order the answer stricken and instruct the jury to disregard it.

Federal Rule of Evidence 103 governs objections and motions to strike. When evidence is excluded, the rule also addresses offers of proof, which allow an attorney to create a record of the excluded evidence. That can be important if the party later challenges the evidentiary ruling on appeal.

Can Jurors Really Unhear Evidence?

When a judge tells the jury to disregard testimony, the judge is giving a legal directive. The instruction means that jurors are legally required to leave that information out of their decision-making. When jurors later enter the jury room, they are supposed to base their deliberations only on evidence they are permitted to consider and the judge’s instructions about how that evidence may be used.

That gets a little more complicated when evidence is admissible for one purpose but not another. Federal Rule of Evidence 105 specifically allows a judge to limit evidence to its proper scope and instruct the jury accordingly. A piece of evidence may come into the case, for example, but the jury may be told that it can consider that evidence only for a particular issue.

Why Does the Justice System Limit What Jurors Can Consider?

A trial can involve a lot of information. That does not mean all of it belongs in front of the jury. The rules of evidence exist in part to keep jurors focused on the questions they actually need to answer rather than every piece of information connected to the people involved.

During jury selection and voir dire, attorneys and the court work to identify jurors who can fairly consider the evidence and follow the court’s instructions. Once the trial begins, the same basic principle continues. The jury should decide the case using evidence that relates to the issues it must resolve.

Keep the Jury Focused on the Case

Under Federal Rule of Evidence 401, evidence is relevant when it tends to make a fact that matters to the case more or less probable. Rule 402 generally makes relevant evidence admissible while excluding irrelevant evidence.

That may sound obvious, but trials can generate plenty of information that has little to do with the legal questions at issue. Allowing every side issue into evidence could send jury deliberations in directions the law does not require them to consider.

The same concern applies in criminal cases. Jurors may have to decide whether the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt, while criminal defendants may have their own evidence and arguments to present. The burden of proof gives the jury a legal standard to apply. It does not give jurors permission to fill gaps in the evidence with information they heard but were never supposed to consider.

Prevent Unfair Prejudice

Relevant evidence can still create problems. Federal Rule of Evidence 403 allows a judge to exclude relevant evidence when its value is substantially outweighed by dangers such as unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury.

A judge may also have to consider what the evidence is likely to do to the jury’s decision-making. This becomes especially important when the evidence is emotionally powerful. Information involving a death penalty case, for example, can carry enormous emotional weight.

Something that may affect jurors emotionally does not automatically make it inadmissible, but the rules recognize that evidence can have an improper influence beyond its actual value in proving a fact.

Prevent a Trial from Going Off the Rails

Evidence rules also give judges ways to deal with problems without immediately ending a trial. A judge may exclude evidence, limit how it can be used, strike testimony, or instruct jurors about what they may consider.

Sometimes, however, the problem is serious enough that a court may consider a mistrial. That is one reason judges try to address evidentiary problems as they arise instead of waiting until the jury has heard everything and retired to deliberate.

The goal is not to hide information from jurors. It is to make sure they decide the case according to the evidence and legal standards that actually apply.

Protect the Fairness of the Trial

Limiting what a jury can consider helps protect the integrity of the trial itself. A jury’s job is to evaluate the evidence admitted under the rules and reach a verdict based on the instructions it receives. The jury does not decide which evidentiary rules apply.

Seek Legal Advice

The judge controls the courtroom, including what evidence the jury may consider. Those decisions can shape the evidence that ultimately forms the basis of a verdict. That makes an attorney’s role especially important in a case headed for trial. Knowing when to object, how to respond to an evidentiary ruling, and when to ask the judge to limit or exclude evidence can have significant consequences.

If you need legal representation or advice about your case, use the Super Lawyers directory to find a qualified criminal defense attorney.