1 / 19

Impeachment in Legal Proceedings

Learn about the process of impeachment, methods, and rules for impeaching witnesses in legal cases. Discover how to weaken credibility and present extrinsic evidence effectively.

janette
Télécharger la présentation

Impeachment in Legal Proceedings

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. CHAP. 8: IMPEACHMENT P. JANICKE 2011

  2. DEFINITION AND METHODS • IMPEACHMENT IS THE PROCESS OF ATTEMPTING TO WEAKEN THE PERCEIVED CREDIBILITY OF A WITNESS • MOST COMMONLY DONE ON CROSS • AT LEAST SIX METHODS OF IMPEACHMENT, EACH WITH ITS OWN RULES LIMITING REACH Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  3. MEANING OF “EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE” • DOING THE IMPEACHMENT BY • CALLING A WITNESS TO IMPEACH THE TARGET WITNESS, OR • INTRODUCING A DOCUMENT TO DO SO Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  4. THE GENERAL MODES • ARE ATTACKS ON THE WITNESS’S BELIEVABILITY DUE TO SOME GENERAL WEAKNESS AS A WITNESS • I.E., A WEAKNESS NOT LIMITED TO THIS PARTICULAR CASE Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  5. PROVE IMPAIRED GENERAL COMPETENCY • UNABLE TO OBSERVE OR REMEMBER THINGS IN GENERAL, NOT LIMITED TO THIS CASE • EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE IS ALLOWED Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  6. 2. POOR CHARACTER FOR VERACITY a. BAD REPUTATION FOR TRUTHFULNESS – EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE ALLOWED, BUT NO SPECIFICS b. PRIOR DISHONEST NON-CONVICTION ACTS, ESTABLISHED ON CROSS. EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE IS NOT ALLOWED Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  7. CONVICTION OF A CRIME • ANY CRIME INVOLVING DISHONESTY • NO WEIGHING PROBATIVE VALUE OR PREJUDICE • ANY FELONY, BUT SUBJECT TO WEIGHING PROBATIVENESS AGAINST RISK OF PREJUDICE • TEN-YEAR LIMIT IN EITHER CASE Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  8. IF THE WITNESS ADMITS TO IT, CANNOT USE EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE TO PROVE THE CONVICTION • IF THE WITNESS DOES NOT ADMIT, CAN USE RECORD ONLY (NO ADD’L WITNESS) – • CRIME; DATE OF CONVICTION; SENTENCE. NO DETAILS Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  9. SPECIFIC MODES • ATTACKS ON THE CREDIBILITY OF THE WITNESS IN THIS CASE ONLY • THESE ASSUME THAT IN GENERAL THE WITNESS MIGHT HAVE GOOD VERACITY Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  10. MODES OF SPECIFIC IMPEACHMENT • PROVE IMPAIRED SPECIFIC COMPETENCY, i.e., ON THE OCCASION IN QUESTION • DRUNK • NIGHT-TIME • LOOKING THE OTHER WAY • EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE ALLOWED Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  11. BIAS OR PREJUDICE • FRIEND OR RELATIVE OF A PARTY • E.G.: BUSINESS OBJECTIVE IF ONE SIDE WINS • E.G.: SIMILARLY SITUATED NEIGHBORS • EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE ALLOWED Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  12. 6. PRIOR INCONSISTENT STATEMENT OF A WITNESS • EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE ALLOWED; BUT --- • MUST AFFORD TARGET WIT. A CHANCE DURING TRIAL TO EXPLAIN THE INCONSISTENCY • THEREFORE, CAN’T USE THIS MODE IF WITNESS HAS BEEN EXCUSED AND IS BEYOND SUBPOENA REACH Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  13. WHO CAN BE IMPEACHED ? • ANY WITNESS WHO ANSWERS ANY QUESTION PLACES HIS CREDIBILITY IN ISSUE, AND CAN BE IMPEACHED • CAN IMPEACH YOUR OWN WITNESS Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  14. CAN IMPEACH AN IMPEACHING WITNESS • A NON-TESTIFYING PARTY GENERALLY CANNOT BE IMPEACHED Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  15. SERIATIM IMPEACHMENT METHODS • ARE GENERALLY ALLOWED, SUBJECT TO DISCRETION ON WASTE OF TIME • MOST COMMONLY DONE WHEN FIRST METHOD FAILS Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  16. EXAMPLE #1 : • D. TESTIFIES • ON CROSS, PROSECUTOR TRIES TO SHOW PRIOR DISHONEST ACTS – FALSE INCOME TAX RETURN • D. DENIES/ADMITS FILING FALSE RETURN • PROSECUTOR CAN NOW SWITCH TO CONVICTION OF A CRIME MODE (FILING FALSE RETURN) Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  17. EXAMPLE #2 • IMPEACH A WITNESS FIRST WITH PRIOR DISHONEST ACTS (CROSS) • THEN WITH FELONY CONVICTIONS • THEN WITH PRIOR INCONSISTENT STATEMENTS Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  18. SOME SURPRISING THINGS • NON-MIRANDIZED STATEMENT CAN BE USED TO IMPEACH A TESTIFYING D. • PRE-MIRANDA-WARNING SILENCE CAN BE USED TO IMPEACH A TESTIFYING D. Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

  19. ILLEGALLY SEIZED ITEMS CAN BE USED TO IMPEACH A TESTIFYING D. • E.G.: ILLEGALLY SEIZED SHIRT WITH NIFTY CUT-OUTS • E.G.: ILLEGALLY SEIZED COCAINE • ALL 3 OF ABOVE ARE SAID TO BE NECESSARY TO PROTECT INTEGRITY OF TRIAL SYSTEM Chap. 8 -- Impeachment

More Related