Pennsylvania Code
Title 225 - RULES OF EVIDENCE
Article IV - RELEVANCE AND ITS LIMITS
Rule 413 - Evidence of Immigration Status
Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 12, March 23, 2024
(a) Criminal or Delinquency Matters; Evidence Generally Inadmissible. In any criminal or delinquency matter, evidence of a party's or a witness's immigration status shall not be admissible unless immigration status is an essential fact to prove an element of, or a defense to, the offense, to show motive, or to show bias or prejudice of a witness pursuant to Rule 607. This paragraph shall not be construed to exclude evidence that would result in the violation of a defendant's or a juvenile's constitutional rights.
(b) Civil Matters; Evidence Generally Inadmissible. In any civil matter, evidence of a party's or a witness's immigration status shall not be admissible unless immigration status is an essential fact to prove an element of, or a defense to, the action, or to show bias or prejudice of a witness pursuant to Rule 607.
(c) Procedure. Unless a party did not know, and with due diligence could not have known, that evidence of immigration status would be necessary, the following procedure shall apply prior to any such proposed use of immigration status evidence:
(d) Voluntary Revelation. This rule shall not prohibit a person, or the person's attorney, from voluntarily revealing his or her immigration status to the court.