'Impeaching' Cooperating Witnesses

4 Pages Posted: 3 Sep 2007

See all articles by Stephen A. Saltzburg

Stephen A. Saltzburg

George Washington University School of Law

Abstract

This article, discussing trial tactics, considers the scenario in which the government seeks to elicit testimony from a witness, involved in the criminal activity, that has entered into a plea agreement; the defendant offers to stipulate that the defense will make no effort to impeach the witness through the use of the plea agreement and moves to exclude it from evidence; yet the prosecutor insists upon using the agreement. The article discusses United States v. Richardson, 421 F.3d 17 (1st Cir. 2005), and United States v. McNeill, 728 F.2d 5 (1st Cir. 1984), and concludes that there is no sensible distinction to be drawn between them.

Keywords: impeachment, witness credibility, evidence, plea agreement, Richardson, McNeill

JEL Classification: K14, K42

Suggested Citation

Saltzburg, Stephen A., 'Impeaching' Cooperating Witnesses. Criminal Justice, Vol. 22, No. 2, Summer 2007, GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 344, GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 344, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1010464

Stephen A. Saltzburg (Contact Author)

George Washington University School of Law ( email )

2000 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20052
United States
202-994-7089 (Phone)

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