Trial by Ambush

Describing a trail in which one side is blindsided by the evidence of the other. This is routinely portrayed on TV, but is exceptionally rare in real life. Our court system requires that both parties be fully aware of the evidence each side is going to present well ahead of trial so that each party can prepare to combat the other side’s evidence. When a party tries to spring a last-minute surprise, the other side can object on the basis of non-disclosure, and it is likely that objection will be upheld and not be admitted into evidence (meaning it will not be considered by the judge when making the decision). There are exceptions for when undisclosed evidence might be admitted (such as where a party, through reasonable diligence, could not have acquired the evidence by the disclosure deadline.