Pg 25

Question 1

What is the rationale behind impeaching a witness for untruthfulness?

Answer 1

It is used to show that the witness has a general trait of lying or acted in the past in a way that shows a trait of dishonesty. It is meant for the jury to engage in a propensity inference to suggest the witness is acting in conformity with that trait of dishonesty at the trial they are testifying in. The idea is that the witness shouldn’t be believed in his testimony because he is likely acting in conformity with his trait of dishonesty

Question 2

What is bolstering?

Answer 2

Supporting the witness’ credibility before it has been attacked

Question 3

What is the reason that bolstering is forbidden?

Answer 3

Because it is assumed that the witness is telling the truth until someone gives a reason to think they aren’t. So there’s no need to offer evidence to emphasize the truth before anyone suggests they aren’t telling the truth, since that is a waste of time and might confuse the issues

Question 4

What is Pritikin’s approach to impeaching a witness for dishonesty?

Answer 4

• ask if the evidence is relevant to undercut the witness’ credibility
  – does it undercut credibility by showing the witness has a general trait of dishonesty or past dishonest acts? If yes, it is impeachment by character. If not, it is a different form of impeachment like: bias, recollection, prior inconsistent statement
  – for impeachment by character, does it follow the rules for form? Like reputation/opinion/collateral evidence/proving up extrinsically

Question 5

What does extrinsic policies mean?

Answer 5

Rules that keep things out for policy reasons, not because they produce the best results in the case, but because it is good for the court system overall