Rehabilitation Flashcards
(16 cards)
What is rehabilitation?
Repairing the credibility of the witness
Can rehabilitation happen whenever?
Generally, rehabilitation must follow impeachment
In what circumstances is it okay to rehabilitate a witness before they have been impeached?
You can “front” the impeaching material in order blunt its impact
What are the three rehabilitation techniques?
- Allow a witness to explain
- Offer evidence of character for truthfulness
- Offer prior consistent statements
Why is the rehabilitation technique of allowing a witness to explain slightly less effective after they have been impeached on cross?
Because a proponent of a witness generally cannot ask leading questions on redirect
When is it required for witnesses to explain?
If the witness has been impeached with a prior inconsistent statement, the impeached witness must be given a chance to explain or deny the prior statement
What are the two avenues for offering evidence of character for truthfulness?
- General opinion/reputation evidence
- specific acts that contradict the generalization of deceit
When can you introduce general opinion/reputation evidence?
Once the truthfulness of a witness has been impeached through bad character for truthfulness
In that case, the party who called the witness may offer testimony by other witnesses concerning the first witness’s character for truthfulness.
Does the court care how the impeacher labels the impeachment technique for the purpose of determining whether general opinion/reputation evidence of good character is admissible?
Nope, if the technique led to a showing that the witness was deceitful, you can offer general opinion/reputation evidence of good character.
What is the rehabilitation technique of offering good character evidence of specific acts that contradict the generalization of deceit?
The proponent of the first witness may cross-examine the impeaching witness to elicit evidence of prior specific acts by the first witness showing good character for truthfulness.
E.g., what about the time the witness returned the stolen wallet?
When can you use the rehabilitation technique of offering prior consistent statements?
Once the cross-examination has implied that the witness has a motive to fabricate testimony
i.e., prior consistent statements that cam before an event where the witness would have a bias to disfavor one side are admissible (because they rebut the suggestion that the witness fabricated testimony)
Does a statement need to be made under oath to use the rehabilitation technique of offering prior consistent statements?
No!
Does a statement need to be elicited from the impeaching witness, or from the witness to be rehabilitated, to use the rehabilitation technique of offering prior consistent statements?
No! the statement can, and most often does, come from a 3rd party witness
When must the prior consistent statement occur to be admitted?
The prior consistent statement must predate the inception of the motive to fabricate (Tome - the court did not allow evidence of a prior consistent statement when there was no evidence that the statement predated the inception of the motive to fabricate).
Can you use prior consistent statements to rehabilitate the declarant’s credibility as a witness when attacked on another ground?
YUP!
This allows prior consistent statements to show the witness’s memory is good - regardless of temporal sequence. i.e., the framers of the FRE hated TOME and said, “for anything other than motive to fabricate testimony, we do not care about timing sequence.
