Fed. R. Evid. 104 — Preliminary Questions

Federal Rules of Evidence

Rule 104 — Preliminary Questions

Fed. R. Evid. 104

Rule104

ARTICLE IGENERAL PROVISIONS

CitationFed. R. Evid. 104

Fed. R. Evid. 104 (Preliminary Questions) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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Fed. R. Evid. 104.

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(a)IN GENERAL. The court must decide any preliminary question about whether a witness is qualified, a privilege exists, or evi- dence is admissible. In so deciding, the court is not bound by evi- dence rules, except those on privilege.

(b)RELEVANCE THAT DEPENDS ON A FACT. When the relevance of evidence depends on whether a fact exists, proof must be intro- duced sufficient to support a finding that the fact does exist. The court may admit the proposed evidence on the condition that the proof be introduced later.

(c)CONDUCTING A HEARING SO THAT THE JURY CANNOT HEAR IT. The court must conduct any hearing on a preliminary question so that the jury cannot hear it if:

(1)the hearing involves the admissibility of a confession;

(2)a defendant in a criminal case is a witness and so re- quests

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(a) IN GENERAL. The court must decide any preliminary question
about whether a witness is qualified, a privilege exists, or evi-
dence is admissible. In so deciding, the court is not bound by evi-
dence rules, except those on privilege.
(b) RELEVANCE THAT DEPENDS ON A FACT. When the relevance of
evidence depends on whether a fact exists, proof must be intro-
duced sufficient to support a finding that the fact does exist. The
court may admit the proposed evidence on the condition that the
proof be introduced later.
(c) CONDUCTING A HEARING SO THAT THE JURY CANNOT HEAR IT.
The court must conduct any hearing on a preliminary question so
that the jury cannot hear it if:
(1) the hearing involves the admissibility of a confession;
(2) a defendant in a criminal case is a witness and so re-
quests; or
(3) justice so requires.
(d) CROSS-EXAMINING A DEFENDANT IN A CRIMINAL CASE. By testi-
fying on a preliminary question, a defendant in a criminal case
does not become subject to cross-examination on other issues in
the case.
(e) EVIDENCE RELEVANT TO WEIGHT AND CREDIBILITY. This rule
does not limit a party’s right to introduce before the jury evi-
dence that is relevant to the weight or credibility of other evi-
dence.

Advisory Committee Notes

(As amended Mar. 2, 1987, eff. Oct. 1, 1987; Apr. 26, 2011, eff. Dec. 1, 2011.)