Judicial Gatekeeping to Rule of Completeness (Understanding the Federal Rules of Evidence 104–106)

🎙️ Welcome to Season 7 of American Law Café—today we’re mastering the four rules that win evidentiary fights and protect your appeal.

This episode focuses on FRE 103–106: how to preserve error, how judges gatekeep evidence, how to limit what jurors may do with it, and how the rule of completeness stops cherry-picking. Miss these, and you can lose before the jury ever speaks.

🔑 Key Topics Covered

Preserving Error (Rule 103)

• Objections must be timely and specific to preserve issues for appeal.
• If evidence is excluded, make an offer of proof to build the record (State v. Gaylor; see also Alley v. State).
• Appellate review hinges on the record: no record, no appeal (State v. Brown illustrates incomplete-record pitfalls).
• Error tiers: harmless → prejudicial → rare plain error.

Preliminary Questions (Rule 104)

• Judges decide admissibility, privilege, and witness competency—the judge is the gatekeeper.
• 104(b) conditional relevance: admit now if the foundation will be shown later.
• Courts can hear foundation outside the jury’s presence to avoid prejudice.
• State v. Brown: Proper 104 rulings on party admissions and co-defendant statements.

Limited Admissibility (Rule 105)

• When evidence is admissible for one purpose/party but not another, the court must give a limiting instruction on request.
• Keeps jurors within the evidence’s proper scope (e.g., cautioning about accomplice testimony in Brown).

Rule of Completeness (Rule 106)

• Prevents cherry-picking: if part of a writing/recording is introduced, the opponent can require related portions at the same time when fairness requires.
• State v. Brown: Court admitted the entire co-defendant statement so jurors had full context.

🎧 Whether you’re prepping for Evidence or gearing up for trial, 103–106 are the backbone of courtroom fairness: preserve the issue (103), clear the gate (104), cabin the use (105), and demand the whole story (106).

 Introductory Music for American Law Cafe. In Jazz Short by moodmode / Vlad Krotov.