US-CA11 · jury_instructions
11th Cir. Pattern Jury Instr. (Civil) 3.5.1
Impeachment of Witnesses Because of Inconsistent Statements
You should also ask yourself whether there was evidence that a witness
testified falsely about an important fact. And ask whether there was evidence that
at some other time a witness said or did something, or didn’t say or do something,
that was different from the testimony the witness gave during this trial.
But keep in mind that a simple mistake doesn’t mean a witness wasn’t
telling the truth as he or she remembers it. People naturally tend to forget some
things or remember them inaccurately. So, if a witness misstated something, you
must decide whether it was because of an innocent lapse in memory or an
intentional deception. The significance of your decision may depend on whether
the misstatement is about an important fact or about an unimportant detail.
Provenance
- Source
- ca11.uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-20
- Edition
- civil-2022-03
- Content hash
46e47e3c439309d66f4e21a953c942457a234b0ba6f86d75b4d4a8636f77e7f3
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