A motion to strike is a request by one party in a United States trial requesting that the presiding judge order the removal of all or part of the opposing party's pleading to the court.
A motion to strike is a request to a judge that part of a party's pleading or a piece of evidence be removed from the record. During the pleading stage, this can be accomplished by a tool such as Rule 12(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a state equivalent.
The court may grant a motion to dismiss if the plaintiff's complaint fails to allege all the elements of a claim adequately. Or the court may grant it if the complaint fails to allege a measurable injury.
A motion to dismiss asks the court to dismiss either whole or part of a complaint, counterclaim, or crossclaim. Motion to strike or "Demurrer": In some jurisdictions, a motion to strike or a "demurrer" is the equivalent to a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
What happens next? If we filed the motion to strike in a trial court, then we will set the motion to be heard by a judge or magistrate, and be ruled upon. If we filed it in an appeals court, the appeals court will read the motion and offending document and will rule on it without hearing.
The primary purpose of a motion to strike is to clean up the pleadings by eliminating irrelevant, redundant, or legally insufficient parts. This helps in focusing the litigation on the substantive issues, thereby streamlining the legal process.
Usually, a challenge for cause is based on the statutes governing the qualification of jurors, like the venire members' bias, interest, or medical impairment, etc. However, a juror may be excused for other reasons. Counsel must elicit the disqualifying information from the challenged juror to challenge for cause.
A “motion to dismiss” is typically filed in response to a complaint and is made in lieu of filing an “answer.” Technically, a plaintiff can move to “strike” a defense that a defendant has pled, given that defenses are subject to the same pleading requirements as are the plaintiff's claims.
These include dismissals for: (b)(1) a lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. (b)(2) a lack of personal jurisdiction. (b)(3) improper venue.
If a key witness is unavailable to testify, the prosecutor may not have enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If this happens, the prosecutor may need to dismiss the case. For example, a key witness may be the only person who can identify the defendant.