Admission of Party Opponent

Example

In a lawsuit for Title VII employment discrimination, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant insulted them at work using sexist slurs. Before the case goes to trial, the defendant sends the plaintiff an angry email admitting they used the slurs. At trial, the plaintiff can use the email as an admission by a party opponent in support of their claim that they were subjected to sexist slurs at work.

Case Examples

• Statements by codefendants: If a codefendant makes a statement out of court that implicates another, the statement does not come into court. See United States v. Benson, 957 F.3d 218, 228 (4th Cir. 2020). However, if a codefendant's statements implicate another by simply tying him to other evidence already admitted in court, the statement can be introduced as an admission by an opposing party. Id. In Benson, a defendant argued that statements made by his codefendant could not be used against him in court. Id. However, the Court disagreed, finding that the codefendant’s statements merely connected the defendant challenging the statements to other evidence already admitted in the court case. Therefore, the statements were admissible. Id.
• Statements regarding conspiracy: There is also an exception allowing statements by a non-party or a codefendant about a particular defendant, but not against the other defendants, to be admitted into court. This is particularly true if such statements are made as part of a conspiracy to commit a crime. See United States v. DeLeon, 418 F. Supp. 3d 682, 757 (D.N.M. 2019). In DeLeon, a codefendant made statements regarding the conspiracy that he and another codefendant engaged in. Id. The statements were held admissible because they were made in furtherance of the conspiracy against a particular codefendant. Id.