Preservation Points

October 8, 2020

Motion in limine? “Even though the motion in limine initially excluded post-sale evidence, nothing prohibited the Jordans from seeking to revisit that ruling later. Though the record indicates that the Jordans contemplated asking the district court to reconsider its ruling on the motion in limine, they never did.”
Offer of Proof? “Federal Rule of Evidence 103(a)(2) requires parties to proffer excluded evidence to the court unless the ‘substance was apparent from the context.’ The Jordans do not argue that the substance of their bias evidence against Nord was apparent from the context, so they were required to proffer this evidence to preserve the alleged error on appeal. The Jordans failed to proffer evidence of Nord’s alleged bias, so the district court was unable to rule on the evidence’s admissibility. Therefore, we cannot review the exclusion of this evidence.” (citations omitted).