Civil Litigation-Impeachment

Once a witness has been put on the witness stand, he or she may be impeached. To impeach a witness means to contradict him or her in some manner or form, or to otherwise undermine his or her credibility. A witness may be impeached by presenting contrary statements that he or she has made on prior occasions about the issue in controversy; by showing that he or she has some particular bias or prejudice against the other party; or, by attacking the witness' character by showing that he or she has been previously convicted of a criminal offense constituting a felony or a crime of moral turpitude. (A felony is a crime for which a person may be imprisoned for more than a year. A crime of moral turpitude is a crime that involves lying, cheating, or stealing.) Normally, in a civil case, general character evidence is not admissible. The court in a civil action does not want to hear evidence about how good a person the plaintiff or the defendant may be. However, that type of testimony may be allowed in a criminal action to show the character and reputation of the defendant who has been accused of the crime.

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