a. Relevance; Collateral Matters

RELEVANCE OF EVIDENCE AND COLLATERAL MATTERS

RELEVANCY – Evidence is relevant if it has such a relation to the fact in issue as to induce belief in its existence or non-existence (Rule 128, Sec. 4). What constitutes RELEVANT Evidence:

• Material – evidence offered upon a matter properly in issue. It is directed towards a fact within the range of allowable controversy.
• Probative – tendency of evidence to establish the proposition that it is offered to

Competency – Facts having rational probative value are admissible unless some rule or law forbids their admission. If a rule or law excludes the evidence, it is incompetent.

COLLATERAL MATTERS – refers to matters other than the fact in issue. These are matters outside the controversy or are not directly connected with the principal matter or issue in dispute, as indicated in the pleadings of the parties.

General Rule: Evidence on collateral matters is not allowed.

Exception: Evidence on collateral matters may be admitted if it tends in any reasonable degree to establish the probability or improbability of the fact in issue (Rule 128, Sec. 4).

For instance, when a witness testifies having seen the killing of the victim by the accused, his testimony is direct evidence for it tends to prove the fact in issue without the aid of inference or presumption; but when he testifies to the conduct of the accused prior to the commission of the crime or immediately thereafter from which an inference may be made as to the probability or improbability of the fact in issue, his testimony is circumstantial evidence for it tends to prove collateral matters which with the aid of inference may tend to establish that probability or improbability of the fact in issue. (Herrera, Remedial Law Vol V, 63 – 64)

Collateral matter

When the original is not closely-related to a controlling issue (Rule 130, Sec. 3[e])

This is an exception to the original document rule to prevent an overly rigid technical application of the rule as when the original is so tangential that its production would add little or nothing to the reliability of the fact-finding process.

Thus, incidental references by a witness to road signs, street names, addresses, license plate numbers, billboards, newspaper headlines, names of commercial establishments, brand names, tickets and similar writings will normally be permitted, unless the terms of the writing have particular significance in litigation (Mueller & Kirkpatrick, Modern Evidence, Sec. 10.2 [1995])