Which term describes a trial court error that is not enough to reverse the decision?

• A. Reversible error
• B. Affirm
• C. Rules of criminal procedure
• D. Harmless error

Answer: (D)

On appeal, mistakes are weighed by whether they could have changed the outcome. A harmless error is a trial mistake that, despite occurring, likely would not have affected the verdict or sentence given all the evidence. Because the result would be the same anyway, the appellate court can affirm the conviction even though an error happened. This is different from a reversible error, which is prejudicial enough that it could have changed the outcome and would typically lead to reversal or a new trial. The term “affirm” is about upholding the lower court’s decision, not describing a type of error, and “rules of criminal procedure” refers to the rules themselves, not to error types.