Timeline for Does partiality discredit witnesses?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 24, 2021 at 19:11 | comment | added | bdb484 | These are weird tangents you're chasing down. The question is whether bias can be sufficient to even partially discredit a witness. The answer is yes, but it's a decision for the jury. If you think otherwise, please produce a law saying so. | |
| Nov 23, 2021 at 20:52 | comment | added | Iñaki Viggers | The OP asked whether admission of bias, alone, discredits the witness. U.S. v. Bonilla-Guizar, 729 F.3d 1179, 1186 (2013) explains that bias "is simply another factor the jury may consider in weighing [witness]'s credibility", and then it reinforces my point that admission of bias "may have had the effect of enhancing [witness]'s credibility". "JNOV isn't available in criminal trials, so it's not really relevant to begin with." Don't get too caught up in the term JNOV. Granting a new trial goes in the same direction of a JNOV. | |
| Nov 23, 2021 at 20:27 | vote | accept | Greendrake | ||
| Nov 23, 2021 at 19:01 | comment | added | bdb484 | To make your argument work, you'd have to establish that a witness's bias cannot be discrediting, but I think courts universally reject that argument. Here is the U.S. Supreme Court rejecting it: Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., 530 U.S. 133, 150 (2000) ("In entertaining a motion for judgment as a matter of law, the court should review all of the evidence in the record. In doing so, however, the court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, and it may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence."). | |
| Nov 23, 2021 at 18:38 | comment | added | bdb484 | No, I'm quite aware of such provisions, and they are routinely applied consistent with my answer and contrary to your interpretation. The court won't grant JNOV (or summary judgment or an MJOP) on that basis because (1) it may not inquire into the jury's rationale for discrediting testimony; and (2) even if it could, biased testimony would in most cases allow a jury to find for either party. Of course, JNOV isn't available in criminal trials, so it's not really relevant to begin with. | |
| Nov 23, 2021 at 17:46 | comment | added | Iñaki Viggers | You are missing that provisions such as a judgment notwithstanding the verdict can actually override the jury's conclusion "when the evidence would only allow a reasonable jury to find for the moving party" Marr v. West Corp., 963 N.W.2d 520, 527 (2021). That is likelier to happen if the witness's readily disclosed bias (and as the OP asked: "that alone") is the jury's only reason for discrediting a testimony. | |
| Nov 23, 2021 at 16:38 | history | answered | bdb484 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |