Legal Definitions - invited error

Invited error is a legal principle that prevents a party in a lawsuit from complaining about a mistake made by the trial court if that party was responsible for, or contributed to, the mistake. Essentially, if a party "invites" the court to make an error, they cannot later use that error as a reason to overturn the court's decision on appeal. This doctrine aims to ensure fairness and prevent parties from strategically creating errors to gain an advantage, only to later use those errors to challenge an unfavorable outcome.

Here are a few examples to illustrate this concept:

• Imagine a civil trial where the plaintiff's attorney specifically requests that the judge use a particular wording for a jury instruction. The judge agrees and reads the instruction exactly as requested. After the jury returns a verdict unfavorable to the plaintiff, the plaintiff's attorney attempts to appeal the decision, arguing that the jury instruction was legally incorrect and prejudiced their client.

  This is an example of invited error because the plaintiff's attorney invited the alleged error by proposing the specific instruction. They cannot now claim that the instruction, which they themselves requested, was a mistake that warrants overturning the verdict.

• Consider a criminal case where the defense lawyer, during a heated exchange, objects to a line of questioning by the prosecutor and asks the judge to strike the entire testimony of a witness. The judge grants the request and instructs the jury to disregard the witness's testimony. After the defendant is convicted, the defense lawyer argues on appeal that the judge's decision to strike the witness's testimony was an error that deprived the jury of crucial information.

  Here, the defense lawyer invited the error by requesting that the testimony be struck. They cannot subsequently argue that the judge's action, which they advocated for, was a legal mistake that harmed their client's case.

• In a business dispute, both parties agree (stipulate) before the court that a certain document should be admitted into evidence without objection, even though it might technically violate some evidentiary rules. The judge relies on this document as part of the evidence presented. If one of the parties later appeals, arguing that the admission of that document was an error because it was inadmissible under the rules of evidence, they would likely be barred by the invited error doctrine.

  The party invited the admission of the document by agreeing to its inclusion. They cannot later claim that the court made an error by doing exactly what they consented to.