Impeachment of Witnesses: A Walking Tour
28 Pages Posted: 9 Jul 2010 Last revised: 13 Jul 2010
Date Written: June 18, 2003
Abstract
This paper was a prepared as a CLE handout for a presentation at the Maryland State's Attorneys' Convention, which took place in Ocean City, MD, June 18, 2003. Discussed in the paper are these topics: Methods of Impeachment in General; Whom Can One Impeach?; Impeachment by Attacks on Witnesses' Character for Truthfulness; Impeachment by Bias, Interest, or Improper Motive; Mental and Sensory Defects or Weaknesses; A Witness's Prior Inconsistent Statements; The Monkey Wrench of Walker v. State; Contradictory Extrinsic Evidence; Impeachment of Experts by Learned Treatises; Rehabilitation of Impeached Witness. APPENDIX A: Excerpt from Walker, 373 Md. at 367-73; APPENDIX B: Excerpt from Elmer, 353 Md. at 4-9.
Keywords: Maryland Evidence, Impeachment of Witnesses, Trials, Courts, Character or Truthfulness, Bias, Interest, Improper Motive, Mental Defects, Sensory Defects, Inconsistent Statements, Walker V. State, Contradictory Extrinsic Evidence, Learned Treatises, Impeachment of Experts, Impeached Witness
JEL Classification: K19, K29, K39, K49
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation