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Miss. R. Evid. 401

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Rule 401 Test for Relevant Evidence

Article IV: Relevance and Its Limits

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Rule Text

Evidence is relevant if:

(a) it has any tendency to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence; and

(b) the fact is of consequence in determining the case.

[Restyled effective July 1, 2016.]

Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)

This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.

Evidence counts as "relevant" if it meets two simple tests. First, the evidence has to make some fact more likely or less likely to be true. It doesn't have to prove the fact completely, it just has to move the needle a little bit in one direction or the other. Second, that fact actually has to matter to the case. It has to be something the judge or jury needs to decide on in order to reach a verdict.

This is a pretty low bar to clear. Evidence doesn't need to be powerful or convincing to be relevant. It just needs to have some connection to a fact that matters, even a small one. If evidence doesn't meet both parts of this test, courts generally won't allow it to be used in the case, since it wouldn't help decide anything that actually matters to the outcome.

Committee Notes

Advisory Committee Historical Note

Effective July 1, 2016, the Rule was amended as part of the general restyling of the Evidence Rules.

Effective June 16, 2016, the “Comment” was retitled “Advisory Committee Note.” Advisory Committee Note

The language of Rule 401 has been amended as part of the restyling of the Evidence Rules to make them more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. The Rule has been restructured, adding subdivisions. These changes are intended to be stylistic only. There is no intent to change any result in any ruling on evidence admissibility.

Rule 401 makes no distinction between relevancy and materiality. The concept of materiality is merged into the concept of relevancy and retains no independent viability. Evidence is relevant if it is likely to affect the probability of a fact of consequence in the case. Mississippi State Highway Commission v. Dixie Contractors, Inc., 375 So. 2d 1202, appeal after remand 402 So. 2d 811 (1979). If the evidence has any probative value at all, the rule favors its admission. Such has been the experience under Federal Rule of Evidence 401 which is identical to this rule. Young v. Illinois Cent. Gulf R. Co., 618 F.2d 332 (5th Cir. 1980). Evidence to prove a collateral fact is relevant if the collateral fact has a tendency to prove or disprove an issue in the case. American Potash & Chemical Corp. v. Nevins, 163 So. 2d 224, 249 Miss. 450 (1964).

[“Advisory Committee Note” substituted for “Comment,” effective June 16, 2016; amended July 1, 2016, to note restyling.]

← Previous Rule 301: Presumptions in Civil Cases Generally Next → Rule 402: General Admissibility of Relevant Evidence