'Impeaching' Cooperating Witnesses
Criminal Justice, Vol. 22, No. 2, Summer 2007
4 Pages Posted: 3 Sep 2007
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: Suggested Citation