Court Opinion

ID: 9771219
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 16:37:10.818479+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:27.029863
License: Public Domain

LARSEN, Justice,
dissenting.
For the reasons outlined in my dissent, I would grant Appellee’s motion for rehearing. I also wish to voice my disagreement with the majority’s characterization of the former Story employees called as fact witnesses by Appellees. Specifically, I do not believe that by calling these persons, plaintiffs “vouch[ed] for their testimony before the jury, [and] made them their.witnesses.”
*507Tex.R.Civ.P. 182, the adverse witness rule, was repealed in 1988. Its purpose is now served by Tex.R.Civ.Evid. 607, which provides that “[t]he credibility of a witness may be attacked by any party, including the party calling him.” [Emphasis added]. Under the modern rules of evidence Appellees were free to argue for or against evidence evinced from any source. That they called any particular witness during presentation of their case did not mean they “vouched” for that person’s testimony or “made [that person] their witness.”
A party does not hold out his witness as worthy of belief, since he rarely has a free choice in selecting them (sic). Denial of the right [to impeach one’s own witness] leaves the party at the mercy of the witness and the adversary. Loyd Electric Co. Inc. v. Millett, 767 S.W.2d 476, 479 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1989, no writ), quoting comment to Fed.R.Evid. 607.
I dissent from the denial of rehearing.