Short And Happy Guide Chapter 4 Part 3 (p. 74) Flashcards
___________ is the mere putting of her testimony in question.
Impeachment
The inaccurate testimony could come from dishonesty, but it could also come from poor memory, poor perception, inaccurate portrayal of the facts, etc. Anything that casts doubt on the accuracy of the testimony is _______________.
Impeachment
What rule permits any party to impeach a witness, even his or her own witness?
Rule 607
While impeachment refers to challenging the credibility of a witness, ___________ is the opposite.
Bolstering
Unlike impeachment, however, a party may not ______ her witness until the witness has first been impeached.
Bolster
There are many methods by which a witness can be impeached. The methods include:
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- Prior Inconsistent Statements
There are many methods by which a witness can be impeached. The methods include:
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- Bias or interest
There are many methods by which a witness can be impeached. The methods include:
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- Conviction of a Crime
There are many methods by which a witness can be impeached. The methods include:
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Specific Instances of Misconduct
There are many methods by which a witness can be impeached. The methods include:
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- Proof of reputation or opinion or
There are many methods by which a witness can be impeached. The methods include:
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- Sensory deficiencies
_________ ________ would include poor perception, memory, mental ability or the inability to narrate the facts accurately.
Sensory Deficiencies
Prior inconsistent statements are used as a mechanism to _______ a witness. Rule 613 governs this method of impeachment.
Impeach
Prior inconsistent statements are used as a mechanism to impeach a witness. Rule 613 governs this method of impeachment. The rule has 4 requirements:
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- The statements must be inconsistent
Prior inconsistent statements are used as a mechanism to impeach a witness. Rule 613 governs this method of impeachment. The rule has 4 requirements:
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- The inconsistency must be relevant to the case at hand.
Prior inconsistent statements are used as a mechanism to impeach a witness. Rule 613 governs this method of impeachment. The rule has 4 requirements:
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- The inconsistent statement on request, must be disclosed to opposing counsel; the witness must be allowed to explain the inconsistency, and; opposing counsel must be allowed to question the witness rule 613(a).
Prior inconsistent statements are used as a mechanism to impeach a witness. Rule 613 governs this method of impeachment. The rule has 4 requirements:
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4. ?
And 4. the district court should instruct the jury about the limited purpose of the earlier statement.
If a witness is biased and/or has an interest in the outcome of the case, then that witness has a _____ to be less than ________.
Motive
Truthful
Evidence which shows the bias or interest, is not admitted for substantive purposes. That is, the evidence is not used to support or controvert an issue in the case. Rather, the evidence is only admitted to _______ the witness.
Impeach
Two examples of bias:
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- Jailhouse snitch
- Scorned spouse
A con sharing the same cell with the defendant testifies about what the defendant told him one night. In exchange for testimony he gets a reduced sentence or some such benefit. Is he biased? ________. Evidence of this agreement could be admitted to illustrate how the witness might be biased.
Certainly
Frequently, one spouse has been wronged. It could have been as a result of many things, such as infidelity, mismanagement of money, hay si al or emotional abuse - you name it. In a divorce, for example the wronged spouse may have a reason to ______ his or her testimony. They have bias.
Twist
This is a fairly strong method of impeachment. Whether warranted or not. It’s the once a bad guy, always a bad guy mentality that many people possess. What does this refer to?
Conviction of a crime. Rule 609
The thought that once a person does something wrong, he or she will tend to do that same wrong again goes far beyond requiring that someone be convicted of a crime. Therefore, Rule ______ addresses the limited circumstances when a witness’s character for truthfulness may be attacked.
608(a)
Evidence of this kind is also contained in Rule 608. Howeve,r the second part of the rule 608(b) addresses specific instances of conduct. What does this refer to?
Proof of reputation or opinion
My cousin Vinny - the witness said she observed something from 50 feet away. He holds up a tape measure and goes 50 feet away and asks he how many fingers he is holding up and she guesses wrong. Pesci uses the demonstration to illustrate that her vision was bad. He challenges her capacity to _______ the ______. It was a very effective demonstration. This is a ________ ________.
Perceive the scene.
Sensory deficiency
Challenging a witnesses ________ is an acceptable way to impeach a witness.
Capacity
There are 4 ways in which capacity may be challenged:
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- Perception
There are 4 ways in which capacity may be challenged:
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- Memory
There are 4 ways in which capacity may be challenged:
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- Narration
There are 4 ways in which capacity may be challenged:
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- mental ability
As illustrated above, sometimes a witness has poor ___________ of the scene about which she testifies. It could be as a result of poor vision, poor location, bad lighting, physical impairment through drugs or alcohol, lack of sleep, or any other factor which impacts a witness’s ability to accurately perceive an event.
Perception
Sometimes, we just cannot remember events, or cannot remember the little details about the events, or we remember events inaccurate. Showing that a witness has misremembered one event, if presented property, can cast doubt on other events she narrates for the case. What does this refer to?
Memory failure
Sometimes we tell the story wrong. Example the telephone game. This is also one of the reasons we have rules regarding hearsay to try to eliminate these changes in story. What does this refer too?
Improper narration
It is important to remember that a lack of mental capacity does not, in and of itself, prevent a witness from bein competent to testify. On the contrary, a mentally incompetent person can testify is a judge believes that she is able to recall and narrate events accurately, and that she understands the difference betweeen telling the truth and a lie. Nevertheless, courts have permitted evidence of a ________ ________ for consideration of a witness’s ___________.
Mental diagnosis
Credibility
Experts to not need to have _________ __________. Nevertheless, they must have appropriate knowledge to testify with regard to a particular _________.
Personal knowledge
Field