Opinion ID: 1290968
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Bias of Holly Sugar Employees

Text: During the presentation of his case, Pust called a number of Holly Sugar employees as witnesses. On cross-appeal, Pust contends that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to impeach these witnesses by showing their bias against him. [11] The trial court's ruling was undoubtedly correct. We have held that: The rule in Colorado is clear that a party may not impeach the credibility of his own witness where surprise is not claimed. Mora v. People, 172 Colo. 261, 472 P.2d 142. This rule is applicable to civil cases. E. g., Myers v. Myers, 151 Colo. 8, 375 P.2d 525. Although the element of surprise has been statutorily eliminated for some types of impeachment in criminal trials (section 16-10-201, C.R.S.1973), it has not been also eliminated in civil cases. Since Holly Sugar cannot be a party to this lawsuit, the special impeachment rules of C.R.C.P. 43(b) are also inapplicable. Thus, since Pust could not demonstrate that he was surprised by the uncooperative attitude of the Holly Sugar employees, the trial court properly refused to allow him to impeach them by attempting to show bias.