Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

impeaching a witness with prior criminal conviction

this question has been answered , this is a follow up questionQuestion: I have

been advised that a witness the alledged victim of an assault with a prior

violent felony conviction may only be asked 2 questions on the stand

regarding his prior violent criminal past. 1. Has he ever been convicted of a

felony 2. how many times?

I have been advised that the nature of his offense and the likelyhood that his

current testimony is motivated by his fear of returning to prison,i.e. if he

doesn't accuse his ''attacker'' then he risked being charged as the attacker

since he acknowledges physical contact..NOTHING but 2 questions above?

Can anyone comment on this and provide anything to support their opinion

that condradicts the above assertion?thank you.

If the above is true can you avoid the issue of prior convictions completely

and ask instead ''prior to the date in question have you ever assaulted

anyone? then go into questions about was that person injured, etc.. if they

don't answer truthfully then i assume you can bring up prior conviction?

thanks


Asked on 7/13/05, 4:40 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Valerie Masters Valerie Masters, P.A.

Re: impeaching a witness with prior criminal conviction

No you can't ask those questions either. They violate a fundamental rule of evidence. If he lied about the 2 questions, you could impeach with the date and charge name, but that rarely happens becuase the prosecutor gets that straight with the witness ahead of time. I would accept his priors aren't coming in.

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Answered on 7/13/05, 5:18 pm


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