ADMISSION
A voluntary ACKNOWLEDGMENT made by a party to a lawsuit or in a criminal prosecution that certain facts that are inconsistent with the party’s claims in the controversy are true.
In a lawsuit over whether a defendant negli-
gently drove a car into the plaintiff pedestrian,
the defendant’s apology to the plaintiff and pay-
ment of the plaintiff ’s medical bills are admis-
sions that may be introduced as evidence against
the defendant.
An admission may be express, such as a writ-
ten or verbal statement by a person concerning
the truth, or it may be implied by a person’s con-
duct. If someone fails to deny certain assertions
which, if false, would be denied by any reason-
able person, such failure indicates that the per-
son has accepted the truth of the allegations.
An admission is not the same as a confes-
sion.A confession is an acknowledgment of guilt
in a criminal case. Admissions usually apply to
civil matters; in criminal cases they apply only to
matters of fact that do not involve criminal
intent.
Admissions are used primarily as a method
of discovery, as a PLEADING device, and as evi-
dence in a trial.
Once a complaint is filed to commence a
lawsuit, the parties can obtain facts and infor-
mation about the case from each other to assist
their preparation for the trial through the use of
discovery devices.One type of discovery tool is a
request for admission: a written statement sub-
mitted to an opposing party before the trial
begins, asking that the truth of certain facts or
the genuineness of particular documents con-
cerning the case be acknowledged or denied.
When the facts or documents are admitted as
being true, the court will accept them as such so
that they need not be proven at trial. If they are
denied, the statements or documents become an
issue to be argued during the trial. Should a
party refuse to answer the request, the other
party can ask the court for an order of precluallows them to be treated as if they had been
admitted.
By eliminating undisputed facts as issues in
a case, requests for admissions expedite trials.
Matters that are admitted are binding only for
the pending case and not for any other lawsuit.
Judicial admissions—made in court by a
party or the party’s attorney as formal acknowledgments
of the truth of some matter, or as stipulations—
are not considered evidence that may
be rebutted but are a type of pleading device.
Averments in a pleading to which a responsive
pleading is required are admitted if they are not
denied in the responsive pleading. If a party has
made an admission in a pleading that has subsequently
been amended, the pleading containing
the admission will be admissible as evidence in
the case. In civil actions any offers to settle the
case cannot be admitted into evidence.
A plea of guilty in a criminal case may usually
be shown as an admission in a later civil or
criminal proceeding, but it is not conclusive.
The defendant may explain the circumstances
that brought it about, such as a PLEA BARGAINING
deal. Any admissions or offers to plead
guilty during the plea-bargaining process are
inadmissible as evidence. Many courts refuse to
admit a guilty plea to a traffic offense as evidence
since many people plead guilty to avoid
wasting their time and money by appearing in
traffic court. A guilty plea that has subsequently
been withdrawn and followed by a plea of not
guilty cannot be used as an admission in either a
criminal or civil case. It is considered an unreliable
admission that has a potentially prejudicial
effect on the opportunity of the defendant to get
a fair trial.
Admissions are used as a type of evidence in
a trial to bolster the case of one party at the
expense of the other, who is compelled to admit
the truth of certain facts. They may be made
directly by a party to a lawsuit, either in or out of
court; or implicitly, by the conduct of a party or
the actions of someone else which bind the
party to a lawsuit. When an admission is made
out of court, it is HEARSAY because it was not
made under oath and not subject to cross-examination.
Although hearsay cannot be used as evidence
in a trial because of its unreliable nature,
admissions can be introduced as evidence
because they are considered trustworthy. An
admission by a party can be used only to prove
the existence of the fact admitted and to
impeach the credibility of the party. An admission
by a witness can be introduced as evidence
only to discredit the witness’s testimony.
An admission against interest is a statement
made by a party to a lawsuit, usually before the
suit, that contradicts what he or she is now alleging
in the case. Because the statements tend to
establish or disprove a material fact in the case,
they are considered admissions against interest.
The truth of such statements is presumed
because people do not make detrimental statements
about themselves unless they are true.
Such an admission is considered an exception
to the hearsay rule and, therefore, can be
used as evidence in a lawsuit.
