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Impeaching a witness with a document or previous testimony, does it matter if the document is actually admitted into evidence?
Anonymous2 views3 answers
If a witness testifies and is impeached with a police report for lack of reporting something or stating something contradictory from the police report or previous testimony, does a copy of the police report or copy of the prior testimony then get admitted into evidence for the jury to see or is the lawyer only allowed to remind the jury at closing argument of the inconsistent testimony?
There is definitely not an easy answer to your question. The rules of evidence dealing with impeachment is EXTREMELY complex and something that only the lawyer on the case could properly answer. That is what I suggest you do: talk to your attorney.
The short answer is no the document itself need not necessarily be admitted into evidence in order to be used for impeachment (and sometimes the document would never be allowed into evidence anyway). A lot depends on how it plays out with the witness on the stand and what s/he does or doesn't admit to. Insuggestbyoundiscuss this with the attorney who is handling this trial, s/he would be in the best position to answer this more appropriately.
Police reports are generally not admissible into evidence, but of course, they are used to cross examine the officer that wrote the report. Really, you can refer to anything you want in cross examination, but if the witness doesn't know what you're talking about, it may have no impact on the jury. Or, the jury may not care if they never get to see what your attorney is referring to. I agree with Craig, the laws regarding "impeachment" are complex, and as such, you should speak to your lawyer about your concerns.
