Pg 20 Flashcards
What is the definition of child molestation?
A crime that involves any contact between any part of the defendant’s body or an object, and a child’s genitals or anus, or contact between defendant’s genitals or anus and any part of a child’s body, or getting sexual pleasure from inflicting death/bodily injury/physical pain to a child, or any attempt or conspiracy to engage in conduct described above
What is the exception under the 404 character evidence ban that allows for civil sexual assault or child molestation?
You can admit similar acts in civil cases that a party committed any other sexual assault or child molestation.
What is a basic breakdown of how you would approach an essay for character evidence?
– Is it about the event in question?
– if not, is it offered to show propensity? If so, you can get around that by: rape shield law, non-propensity mimic purposes, character at issue
– Is there an exception that would allow it? Those include: crim D offering his good character, crim D offering the bad character of the victim, prosecution can offer evidence of the victim’s trait of peacefulness
– Exceptions apply for sexual assault and molestation, as well as habit and similar occurrences
What is impeachment?
Evidence and circumstances that can be used to cast doubt on the credibility of a witness’ testimony
What is the primary purpose of impeachment?
To help the jurors know how much weight to give to a witness’ testimony by suggesting that a witness may not have seen or heard what he said he did
When is witness credibility considered to be a material purpose for offering evidence?
Always
Is all evidence of witness credibility admissible?
No. Courts can exclude relevant evidence if it will waste time, confuse the issues, or result in undue prejudice
Is it possible to impeach your own witness?
Yes
Is it possible to use someone’s religious belief or practice to attack or support their credibility?
No, but you can ask on cross-examination whether the witness and the defendant attend the same church, because this shows affiliation and familiarity that are needed for bias
Is it possible for evidence to be probative of more than one material proposition?
Yes
If evidence is admissible for one purpose, but not for another purpose, what happens?
It will be admitted for the permissible purpose unless 403 keeps it out
When considering the purpose that you are offering evidence for, what are the two categories?
Collateral matters and non-collateral matters
What is a collateral matter in relation to the purpose that you are trying to offer evidence for?
Matter only serves to contradict something that the witness testified about, but not regarding a matter in the dispute. This type cannot be proven up with extrinsic evidence because it would be a waste of time to do this since it doesn’t relate to something in the underlying case
What is an example of a time that you would impeach a witness on a collateral matter?
The witness testified that he practised medicine for 17 years, but it was actually 18. This can affect his credibility because the jury may wonder what else he is mistaken about, so you can ask about it on cross-examination, but if he denies it, you cannot call one of his classmates to testify that it was 18 years. The contradiction alone undercuts the testimony
What is considered to be a non-collateral matter when you’re talking about the purpose that evidence is being offered for and witness impeachment?
A matter that is relevant to the events at issue in the case. This type can be proven up with extrinsic evidence because you are not just contradicting the witness
