Opinion ID: 202348
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cross-examination about other witnesses' testimony

Text: 23 Wallace argues that the government improperly cross-examined him about whether the testimony of other trial witnesses was wrong or mistaken and whether he disputed or disagreed with that testimony. Wallace contends that this line of questioning was an inappropriate incursion into the jury's role of determining credibility. 24 Because the defendant did not object to this questioning at the time of the trial, we review this argument for plain error. See United States v. Gaines, 170 F.3d 72, 82 (1st Cir.1999). To prevail on a claim of plain error, [the defendant] bears the burden of showing that (1) an error occurred, (2) the error was clear or obvious, (3) the error affected his substantial rights, and (4) the error also seriously impaired the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. United States v. Medina-Martinez, 396 F.3d 1, 8 (1st Cir.2005). 25 We find no plain error here. To be sure, it is improper for an attorney to ask a witness whether another witness lied on the stand. Underlying this rule is the concept that credibility judgments are for the jury, not witnesses, to make. United States v. Thiongo, 344 F.3d 55, 61 (1st Cir.2003) (internal citations omitted). However, we also [have] clarified that asking whether a witness was `wrong' or `mistaken' is proper because the witness is not required to choose between conceding the point or branding another witness as a liar. Id. (emphasis added, internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see also United States v. Gaind, 31 F.3d 73, 77 (2d Cir.1994) (Asking a witness whether a previous witness who gave conflicting testimony is `mistaken' highlights the objective conflict without requiring the witness to condemn the prior witness as a purveyor of deliberate falsehood.). Here, the prosecution's questioning of Wallace did not cross the line. He did not ask Wallace whether any of the other witnesses lied. Instead, he pushed Wallace on how his story comported with other witnesses' conflicting statements. There was no error.