What are the 3 C’s (define them)?
Commit - reaffirm testimony they just gave
Credit - explain the circumstances under which the prior statement was made
Confront - read the text of the prior statement
Impeaching a fact witness with signed statement to the police
- make sure you explain the circumstances surrounding the prior statement
- make sure you ask if they signed it because it was correct
Marking exhibits in court - what do you say?
- marking as defense exhibit 1 for identification purposes
- showing to counsel
- may the witness be shown what is marked as defense exhibit 1
- is this the statement that you gave on xxxx to xxx?
Can you impeach the witness with a statement the officer wrote down and they didn’t sign?
No. But they you can credit the fact that she spoke to a police officer and confront the witness with what she told the officer
Impeaching a fact witness with unsigned and unrecorded statement to the police
- make sure that you establish the incident was still fresh in their mind
- make sure that you established that they tried to be as accurate as they could
- make sure that you establish that they didn’t want to give the wrong information
What if the fact witness denies making a statement?
call the officer who wrote it/recorded it OR ask the DA to stipulate
Can you use the officer’s paperwork to impeach a fact witness who didn’t sign the statement?
no
What if when you ask the officer if they created the paperwork following the arrest, they say their partner did, not them?
- establish that they reviewed that document before testifying
- mark it as an exhibit
- make them look at the bottom where it has their partner’s and their own names/badge numbers
