Court Opinion

ID: 9642294
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:54:11.183188+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:36:49.132256
License: Public Domain

Melvin Mayfield, Chief Judge, concurring. I concur in the reversal of the murder conviction in this case. It is my view that much of the confusion in the cases discussed results from a failure to recognize that under our Uniform Evidence Rule 607 a witness may now be impeached by the party calling him — contrary to the law as it existed prior to the adoption of the Rules. This does not mean, however, that a party may call a witness just to show that the witness is untruthful. Thus, where it is not necessary to call him, or where you know his testimony will not help you, it would be improper to elicit testimony simply to discredit the witness or to reveal prior inconsistent statements which you could not otherwise get into evidence. Regardless of the intention, this is the result of what occurred in the instant case and because it was prejudicial, I agree to the reversal.