Rule 408 - Compromise Offers and Negotiations(a)Prohibited Uses. Evidence of the following is not admissible - on behalf of any party - either to prove or disprove the validity or amount of a disputed claim, the liability of a party in a disputed claim, or to impeach by a prior inconsistent statement or a contradiction: (1) furnishing, promising, or offering - or accepting, promising to accept, or offering to accept - a valuable consideration in compromising or attempting to compromise the claim; and (2) conduct or a statement made during compromise negotiations about the claim. (b)Exceptions. This rule does not require the exclusion of any evidence otherwise discoverable merely because it is presented in the course of compromise negotiations. This rule also does not require exclusion when the evidence is offered for another purpose, such as proving bias or prejudice of a witness, negating a contention of undue delay, or proving an effort to obstruct a criminal investigation or prosecution.COMMENT ON RULE 408
Rule 408 is patterned after, but not taken verbatim from, its federal counterpart. Rule 408(a) does not allow the admission of evidence "to impeach by a prior inconsistent statement or a contradiction." This restriction is not contained in the current state rule. Rule 408(a)(1) contains language found in the beginning of the first sentence of the current state rule, though worded slightly differently. Rule 408(a)(2) contains language, with slight changes, that is found in the second sentence of the current state rule. Rule 408(b) contains the last two sentences of the current state rule. The federal rule only contains the last sentence.