Impeaching a witness can be an effective tactic for showing that a witness is biased.
If you are on trial for a criminal offense, you may be feeling a lot of things — scared, overwhelmed, anxious, and more than a little bit stressed. You may also be angry, particularly at the people who are planning to testify against you. They may be biased against you for some reason. Perhaps your ex girlfriend has a grudge against you, or a former coworker is mad at you for getting a better paying job. Whatever the reason, you know that they have motive to lie — so what can you do about it?
With a skilled Orange County criminal defense attorney, you may be able to “impeach” these witnesses. Impeachment is a legal term which means challenging the credibility of a witness at trial. There are many ways that the credibility of a witness can be attacked. For example, if your ex girlfriend is testifying against you, your lawyer could ask questions that are designed to show that she is mad at you for breaking up with her — and that her true motive for testifying isn’t to tell the truth about what happened, but to get back at you.
Another way of impeaching a witness is by showing that the witness’ story has changed over time. In a criminal case, a witness may have changed her story four or five times — and your Orange County criminal defense attorney can impeach her with those inconsistent statements. Showing the jury that the witness has changed her story repeatedly can significantly damage her credibility and demonstrate that she is not trustworthy as a witness. Alternatively, if other witnesses have different memories of the event, those statements could be used to impeach a witness as to her recollection of the alleged crime.
There are many other ways to impeach witnesses. If a witness has a physical or mental health issue, that could impact their ability to recall the events clearly. The classic example of this form of impeachment can be found in the movie My Cousin Vinnie, when the lawyer got the key witness for the prosecution to admit that she’s extremely near-sighted without her glasses — and that she hadn’t been wearing her glasses when she supposedly witnessed the crime in question. Similarly, an Orange County criminal defense attorney could also impeach a witness by proving that the witness was impaired by drugs or alcohol at the time of the event, and so his or her memory was affected.
There are many different potential ways to impeach a witness, and a seasoned Orange County criminal defense attorney will use all of the facts and evidence to thoroughly challenge the credibility of each witness against you in a criminal trial. Whether the witness has a criminal history of his or her own or simply has a motive to lie, these issues should be brought to light if the witness takes the stand against you.
If you have been charged with a crime in Orange County, the Chambers Law Firm can help. Contact us today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a free initial consultation.
