Harmless error

Harmless error

A harmless error is a ruling by a trial judge that, although clearly mistaken, does not meet the burden for a losing party to reverse the original decision of the trier of fact on appeal, or to warrant a new trial. Harmless error is easiest to understand in an evidentiary context. Evidentiary errors are subject to harmless error analysis, under Federal Rule of Evidence 103(a) ("Error may not be predicated upon a ruling which admits or excludes evidence unless a substantial right of the party is affected.") [http://www.federalevidence.com/rules-of-evidence#Rule103] . The general burden when arguing that evidence was improperly excluded or included is to show that the proper ruling by the trial judge may have, on the balance of probabilities, resulted in the opposite determination of fact.

In the case of "Earll v. State of Wyoming" [http://wyomcases.courts.state.wy.us/applications/oscn/deliverdocument.asp?citeid=274666 2001 WY 66] 29 P.3d 787, the Wyoming Supreme Court distinguished between harmful error (which requires a conviction be overturned) and harmless error (which does not), as follows:

In the evidentiary context, a harmless error is usually one where the evidence had no relevance to the issues to be decided by the trier of fact, evidence admitted actually helped the party seeking the reversal, or the remaining evidence was overwhelmingly against the party seeking reversal.

For example, a prosecutor may try to bolster its case by bringing in an expert witness to explain the behavior of one of the key witnesses. If the judge allows the expert to testify that there was a reason to explain away inconsistencies in the witness's testimony, this will most likely be grounds for an appeal, as in most cases evidence that only bolsters the credibility of a witness is not admissible. However, if there were a number of other witnesses against the losing party, the appellate court may rule that this mistake was of no consequence and that even if the evidence had been excluded, the losing party would have lost.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • harmless error — see error Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. harmless error n …   Law dictionary

  • harmless error doctrine — The doctrine that minor or harmless errors during a trial do not require reversal of the judgment by an appellate court. An error which is trivial or formal or merely academic and was not prejudicial to the substantial rights of the party… …   Black's law dictionary

  • harmless error doctrine — The doctrine that minor or harmless errors during a trial do not require reversal of the judgment by an appellate court. An error which is trivial or formal or merely academic and was not prejudicial to the substantial rights of the party… …   Black's law dictionary

  • harmless error — Trivial, formal, or merely academic error; a determination which although erroneous, is not prejudicial to the substantial rights of the party who assigns it and in no way affects the final outcome of the case. State v Britton, 27 Wash 2d, 336,… …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • harmless error — noun : a trivial technical error of law not requiring in the interests of justice a reversal of a judgment or the setting aside of a verdict or a new trial …   Useful english dictionary

  • error — er·ror n: an act that through ignorance, deficiency, or accident departs from or fails to achieve what should be done procedural error s; esp: a mistake made by a lower court in conducting judicial proceedings or making findings in a case to… …   Law dictionary

  • harmless — harm·less adj 1: free from harm, liability, or loss often used in the phrase to hold harmless see also hold harmless 2: lacking capacity or intent to injure harm·less·ly adv harm·less·ness n …   Law dictionary

  • error — A mistaken judgment or incorrect belief as to the existence or effect of matters of fact, or a false or mistaken conception or application of the law. Such a mistaken or false conception or application of the law to the facts of a cause as will… …   Black's law dictionary

  • error — A mistaken judgment or incorrect belief as to the existence or effect of matters of fact, or a false or mistaken conception or application of the law. Such a mistaken or false conception or application of the law to the facts of a cause as will… …   Black's law dictionary

  • error — A mistake of law or fact; a mistake of the court in the trial of an action; a writ to review a judgment of an inferior court in a higher court for errors appearing on the face of the record. A proceeding under a writ of error, distinct, under the …   Ballentine's law dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”