State Court Motion in Limine - Washington

WASHINGTON SUPERIOR COURT PREPARATION TEMPLATE

Confirm the assigned department's standing order and county local rules before using
this motion. Some courts require separately numbered motions in limine, a joint filing,
a meet-and-confer, or a particular trial-materials deadline. This template states no
universal filing deadline.

Motion in Limine

1. Caption

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

COUNTY OF [________________________________]

No.: [________________________________]

[MOVANT]'S MOTION IN LIMINE NO. [____] TO EXCLUDE [________________________]

Trial date: [__/__/____]

Hearing date and time: [________________________________]

Judge / department: [________________________________]

2. Notice and motion

TO ALL PARTIES AND COUNSEL OF RECORD:

On [__/__/____] at [________], or as the Court directs, [MOVANT] will ask
the Court to exclude the evidence identified below and to prohibit counsel and witnesses
from mentioning it before the jury unless the Court first permits the reference outside the
jury's presence.

The motion is based on the Washington Evidence Rules identified below, the record, the
attached [declaration / exhibits], and argument allowed by the Court.

3. Evidence at issue

Describe each item precisely. Identify the witness, exhibit, statement, subject, or proposed
argument; the purpose for which the opponent may offer it; and the ruling requested.

4. Governing Evidence Rules

ER 401 and ER 402 — relevance

ER 401 defines relevant evidence as evidence having any tendency to make a consequential
fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence. ER 402 makes relevant
evidence admissible except as limited by constitutional requirements, statute, the Evidence
Rules, or other applicable court rules or regulations; irrelevant evidence is inadmissible.

ER 403 — discretionary exclusion

The Court may exclude relevant evidence when its probative value is substantially outweighed
by unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, waste of time,
or needless cumulative presentation.

Identify the actual unfair effect. “Prejudicial” does not by itself complete the ER 403
analysis.

ER 404 — character and other acts

ER 404 generally bars character evidence offered to prove action in conformity with a trait,
subject to the rule's stated exceptions. Other crimes, wrongs, or acts may not be used to
prove character and conforming conduct, but may be admissible for another purpose such as
motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or
accident. Address the actual purpose and ER 403 separately.

ER 407 — subsequent remedial measures

ER 407 bars evidence of later measures when offered to prove negligence or culpable conduct
in connection with the event. It does not require exclusion when the evidence is offered for
another purpose, including ownership, control, feasibility of precautionary measures when
controverted, or impeachment.

ER 408 — compromise evidence

In a civil case, ER 408 bars the specified compromise offers, consideration, conduct, and
negotiation statements when offered to prove liability for, invalidity of, or the amount of a
disputed claim. It does not make otherwise discoverable evidence inadmissible merely because
it appeared in negotiations, and it permits another-purpose uses such as proving witness bias
or prejudice, negating undue delay, or proving an effort to obstruct a criminal investigation
or prosecution.

ER 411 — liability insurance

ER 411 bars liability-insurance evidence on whether a person acted negligently or otherwise
wrongfully. It does not require exclusion when offered for another purpose, including agency,
ownership, control, or witness bias or prejudice.

ER 702 — expert testimony

ER 702 permits testimony when scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will
assist the trier of fact and the witness is qualified by knowledge, skill, experience, training,
or education. A challenge involving novel scientific methodology may require additional
Washington case authority and a separate, case-specific motion; this general template does
not state that standard.

ER 802 — hearsay

Hearsay is inadmissible except as provided by the Evidence Rules, other court rules, or
statute. Identify the statement, its asserted truth, and any claimed exclusion or exception.

5. Argument for each requested ruling

Item [____] — [SHORT DESCRIPTION]

Evidence: [________________________________]

Expected purpose: [________________________________]

Rule invoked: ☐ ER 401/402 ☐ ER 403 ☐ ER 404 ☐ ER 407 ☐ ER 408
☐ ER 411 ☐ ER 702 ☐ ER 802 ☐ Other: [________________]

Analysis:

[____________________________________________________________]

[____________________________________________________________]

Response to a possible permitted-purpose argument:

[____________________________________________________________]

Requested ruling:

☐ Exclude the evidence for every purpose shown in the record.

☐ Exclude the evidence only when offered for: [________________________________]

☐ Require an offer of proof and advance ruling outside the jury's presence.

☐ Give a limiting instruction if the Court admits the evidence for another purpose.

Repeat this section for each separately identified item.

6. Requested safeguards

Movant requests that the Court:

1. Rule on each identified item;

2. Direct counsel not to mention an excluded or reserved item before the jury without
   first obtaining permission outside the jury's presence;

3. Direct counsel to instruct affected witnesses about the ruling;

4. Require an offer of proof outside the jury's presence when the ruling is reserved; and
5. Give any limiting instruction the Court determines is appropriate.

7. Conclusion and signature

For the reasons above, [MOVANT] requests the rulings and safeguards stated in this
motion and the proposed order.

DATED: [__/__/____]

[LAW FIRM / PARTY NAME]

By: [________________________________]

[ATTORNEY NAME], WSBA No. [________]

Address: [________________________________]

Telephone: [________________________________]

Email: [________________________________]

Attorney for: [________________________________]

8. Service record

Serve and file this motion as required by the current statewide, local, electronic-filing,
and case-management rules.

9. Proposed order

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

COUNTY OF [________________________________]

No.: [________________________________]

Order on Motion in Limine No. [____]

The Court has reviewed the motion, response, supporting material, and argument. The Court
orders:

Counsel shall not mention an excluded or reserved item before the jury without first
obtaining permission outside the jury's presence. Counsel shall instruct affected witnesses
to comply with this order.

DATED: [__/__/____]

JUDGE: [________________________________]

Sources and References

• Washington Evidence Rules index
• ER 401
• ER 402
• ER 403
• ER 404
• ER 407
• ER 408
• ER 411
• ER 702
• ER 802