“A “motion in limine” is a procedural mechanism to limit in advance testimony or evidence in a particular area. A motion in limine is not the proper vehicle for seeking a dispositive ruling on a claim, particularly after the deadline for filing such motions has passed. In limine motions are designed to facilitate the management of a case, generally by deciding difficult evidentiary issues in advance of trial. These motions can function as an objection to any and all evidence on the ground the pleadings are fatally defective for failure to state a cause of action. In these cases, the in limine motion operates as a general demurrer to the complaints or a motion for judgment on the pleadings. Where motions in limine excluding all evidence are granted at the outset of a trial with reference to evidence already produced in discovery, they may be viewed as the functional equivalent of an order sustaining a demurrer to the evidence, or a nonsuit. A “motion in limine” is made to exclude evidence before it is offered at trial on the ground that the evidence is either irrelevant or subject to discretionary exclusion as unduly prejudicial.
While not expressly authorized by statute, motions in limine are commonly used trial tools that are entertained and granted within the trial court’s inherent powers. Court may employ its inherent powers, including inherent power to control litigation and conserve judicial resources, to use a motion in limine to test whether a complaint states a cause of action. Trial courts have used motions in limine to dismiss a cause on the pleadings, to examine the sufficiency of the evidence, or to require a party to make an offer of proof tantamount to an opening statement, which in effect amounts to a demurrer to the evidence or motion for nonsuit. Reviewing courts are “becoming increasingly wary of this tactic” in large part because the procedural shortcuts “circumvent procedural protections provided by the statutory motions or by trial on the merits; … risk blindsiding the nonmoving party; and, in some cases, … could infringe a litigant’s right to a jury trial. In limine motions are designed to facilitate the management of a case, generally by deciding difficult evidentiary issues in advance of trial. What these motions are not designed to do is to replace the dispositive motions prescribed by the Code of Civil Procedure. Motions in limine are typically brought at the beginning of trial, but may also be brought during trial when evidentiary issues are anticipated by the parties. Motions in limine are typically brought at the beginning of trial, but may also be brought during trial when evidentiary issues are anticipated by the parties. Generally, when an in limine ruling that evidence is admissible has been made, the party seeking exclusion must object at such time as the evidence is actually offered to preserve the issue for appeal. The scope of a motion in limine is “any kind of evidence which could be objected to at trial, either as irrelevant or subject to discretionary exclusion as unduly prejudicial.” Motions in limine may be used to keep particular evidence items from the jury, or as an “objection to all evidence,” which is essentially the same as a general demurrer or motion for judgment on the pleadings seeking to end the trial without introduction of evidence. This latter type of motion is properly sustained where, if plaintiff’s allegations, even if proven, do not establish a cause of action.”
[California Motions in Limine [certain citations omitted]]
