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At the Hearing
What are some common objections?
 Basic information
Here are some common reasons for objecting,
 Presenting your case
which may appear in your state’s rules of evidence.
 Objecting to evidence
To skip to a specific section, click on the name of
What is an objection?
that objection: Relevance, Unfair/prejudicial,
Why would I want to object to Leading question, Compound question,
evidence? Argumentative, Asked and answered, Vague,
What steps do I need to take during the Foundation issues, Non-responsive, Speculation,
trial to set myself up for possibly being Opinion, Hearsay
able to appeal if I lose?
How do I make an objection? Relevance
You can object to the relevance of evidence if you
What are some common objections?
think a piece of evidence or something a witness is
When would I object to specific kinds saying has nothing to do with the case or it is not
of evidence?
important in determining who should win in court.
 Hearsay
Example: Asking how many sexual partners
someone has had wouldn’t be relevant in a
View all protection order case.
Unfair/prejudicial
You can object to evidence, even if it’s relevant, if
the evidence would unfairly turn the judge or jury
against you. This is what is meant by saying the
evidence is prejudicial.
Example: Evidence that one of the parties has been
in jail before may be relevant, but that evidence may
also be unfairly prejudicial if it paints the party in a
bad light to the judge or jury.
Leading question
If the other party poses a question on direct
examination that leads the witness to a certain
answer, then you can object to the question as
leading. This is usually the case with “yes” or “no”
questions. Keep in mind that the judge might allow
some leading questions during direct examination
for simple background information to move the
testimony along faster. For example, let’s say the
other party’s mother is testifying, the judge might
allow the question “You are the respondent’s
mother, correct?” instead of “How do you know the
respondent?” However, when someone is asking
about issues that directly relate to the case, leading
a witness is not allowed.
Example: On direct examination, this leading
question could be objected to: “The car that you
saw leave the scene of the robbery was blue, right?”
Instead, it should be asked: “What color was the car
that you saw leaving the scene of the robbery?”
Compound question
A compound question is when two or more
questions are combined as one question.
Compound questions are not allowed because they
can confuse the witness, the judge, and the jury.
Also, it may not be clear for the court record which
of the questions the witness is answering.
If you find yourself asking a compound question,
don’t get flustered with the other party’s objection
and skip the issue entirely. Just separate out the
questions, ask them one at a time, and they might
then be allowed.
Example: Why did you go back into the house and
what made you think you it was a good idea to then
take the children away?
Argumentative
When the person asking cross-examination
questions begins to argue with the witness, known
as “badgering the witness,” then the other party can
object to the questioning as argumentative.
Example:
Opposing party’s attorney: “You are not afraid of
my client, correct?”
You: “Yes, I am.”
Opposing party’s attorney: “Oh come on, how
can you be afraid of a guy who weighs 120 lbs
when you weigh 300 lbs?”
You: “I am afraid of him no matter his weight.”
Opposing party’s attorney: “Well, you didn’t look
very afraid to me when you walked into court
today.”
You: “Objection, Your Honor, argumentative.”
Asked and answered
Sometimes during cross-examination, the person
asking questions might ask the same question over
and over again, perhaps in slightly di!erent ways, or
re-ask a question s/he had asked earlier in the
testimony. What’s unique about this objection is
that it could come up in two di!erent scenarios,
First, opposing counsel could repeatedly ask you
or your witness the same question, hoping that
contradicting answers will be given. Second,
opposing counsel could repeatedly ask his/her
own client the same question in slightly di!erent
ways, hoping that the client will give a better answer
than one given before. Either way, a question can
only be asked once, and a"er it has been answered,
any further attempts to ask the question are
objectionable.
Example:
Other party: “Do you remember when I wrote
you a check for $10,000?”
You: “No, that never happened.”
Other party: “You’re saying that I didn’t write you
a check for $10,000?”
You: “No, you didn’t.”
Other party: “I’m talking about last year, you
remember, the check I wrote for you, right?”
You: “Objection Your Honor, asked and
answered.”
Vague
A vague question is when it is di!icult or impossible
to tell what the question is about. You would want
to object to a vague question that is asked of your
witness because of the risk that the witness will
misunderstand the question and say something that
will hurt your case. If the question is objected to, the
person asking the question might then be able to
ask the question in a di!erent way that makes more
sense or is more specific.
Example: Let’s say the opposing party asks “Can you
tell the court where you went earlier?” The term
“earlier” is not specific enough; it’s vague. A"er an
objection, the question could be rephrased to say
“Can you tell the court where you went this morning
right before you came to court?”
In addition, a question that refers to “this” or “that”
might be too vague if there is no context as to what
“this” or “that” refers to.
Foundation issues
A question or response can be objectionable if a
person failed to explain the background
circumstances of how s/he knows the information
s/he is testifying about, or is being asked about.
When answering about specific facts, the witness
has to set the stage and explain how s/he knows the
information that s/he knows.
Example: A person can’t testify that it was a certain
person’s voice on the phone, without first explaining
that s/he had spoken with the person many times
over the last few years and the call came from the
same number.
Non-responsive
When a witness starts responding to a question with
information that is completely unrelated to the
question, you can object to it as being “non-
responsive.” This can be especially important in
cross-examination when you are looking for very
specific “yes” or “no” answers.
Example:
You: “Isn’t it true that you put your hands around
my neck a"er you pushed me on the ground?”
Other party: “Well, yes I did.”
You: “When I broke free, isn’t that how you got
the bruises on your arms?”
“Look, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I was just
trying to get your attention and….”
You: “Objection Your Honor, the answer is non-
responsive.”
Judge: “Please answer the question sir.”
In addition, sometimes when a witness is being
questioned on direct examination, s/he will make an
e!ort to explain away a bad answer during the next
question, regardless of what the question asked is.
This is another instance when you could object to
the non-responsive answer.
Example:
Other party’s lawyer: “How many time did you
see your children last month?
Other party: “Once.”
Other party’s lawyer: “When is your next visit
scheduled for?”
Other party: “The reason I only saw them
once last month is because their mother likes
to play games and hang the children over my
head and…”
You: “Objection, Judge, non-responsive!”
Speculation
The speculation objection can be used in two
di!erent situations. First, if a witness does not know
a fact to be true or not, but testifies about it anyway,
this testimony would be objectionable as
speculation. A witness must have personal
knowledge of a fact to testify about that fact and put
it into the court record.
Example: A witness could not testify that s/he thinks
a person le" the house at 8:00 pm unless s/he
actually saw the person leave the house, or s/he has
some other valid basis for that belief.
Second, if a question that is posed can only be
answered by using speculation, the question would
be objectionable.
Example:
Opposing attorney: “What do you think your
sister was thinking when she le"?”
You: “Objection, Your Honor, the question
calls for speculation.”
Opinion
If a witness testifies about an opinion s/he has that
is technical in nature and not based on any facts the
witness has first-hand knowledge of, then you may
be able to object based on it being their opinion.
Generally, only a witness who has been recognized
as an expert witness by the judge can o!er an
opinion.
Example: An abuser cannot testify that you are
“crazy.” S/he can testify about behaviors s/he might
have witnessed that s/he finds concerning.
However, any testimony that might suggest some
sort of diagnosis would usually be objectionable as
opinion. Similarly, you could not testify definitively
that the substance you found in the abuser’s
glovebox was cocaine unless it was tested by a lab
or the abuser admitted it. You could testify that you
saw “a white powdery substance in a baggie that
appeared to be cocaine,” based on your
understanding of the drug and what you looked up
online. However, a judge may allow testimony such
as “I am a good mother” or “He is a good father”
even though that is an opinion.
Hearsay
A person can only testify as to what s/he knows to
be true, not what s/he heard from someone else. If a
witness tries to testify about what a non-party told
him/her or tries to enter into evidence something in
writing that a non-party wrote, then the testimony
or written evidence is objectionable as hearsay.
However, there are hearsay exceptions that may
apply. You can learn more in What is hearsay? and
What are some hearsay exceptions?
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