Chelsea Jackson
August 26, 2022
SDO 544
Module 2-The Rules
Federal Rule 401, states that there is a low bar for defining relevance. According to
Merrit and Simmons, relevance is defined as any evidence that can make a fact, that relates to the
controversy, more or less probable, will be relevant. Also, Federal Rule 402 says that all relevant
evidence will be admissible unless told otherwise. Based on these, any evidence, no matter how
big, that somewhat relates to the scenario at hand will be relevant and admissible because
everything can help in the end.
Relevance as defined above has a low bar because although relevance when collecting
evidence isn’t as important, relevance when going to trial can be depended upon by the judges
when they look at the facts of the case and the Rules of Evidence. Having a low bar gives the
potential for anything to be allowed, which opens up the kinds of evidence that can be collected.
This, in the end, creates a bigger job during the collection of the evidence and gives the judge
and attorneys the job of deciding what is relevant. Having a low bar of relevance is beneficial
since it gives more to be worked with, and can help out more down the road of the case.
Merritt, D. J., & Simmons, R. (2022). Chapter 6 Relevance. In Learning evidence: From the
Federal Rules to the courtroom (pp. 53–64). essay, West Academic Publishing.
