Legal Definitions - limiting instructions

A limiting instruction is a direction given by a judge to a jury to consider a piece of evidence for a specific purpose and ignore it for any other purpose. This means that the jury can only use the evidence in a certain way and not for anything else.

For example, if a witness testifies that the defendant has a criminal record, the judge may give a limiting instruction to the jury that they can only consider this evidence to determine the defendant's credibility as a witness and not to conclude that the defendant is guilty of the crime they are currently on trial for.

The purpose of a limiting instruction is to allow relevant and probative evidence to be admitted in court, even if it is only for a limited purpose. This is better than excluding the evidence altogether, as it may still be useful to the jury in making their decision.

If a judge fails to give a proper limiting instruction, it may be considered a reversible error, which means that the appellate court can overturn the trial court's decision if the instruction unfairly influenced the jury's verdict.