US-CA11 · jury_instructions
11th Cir. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) B6.3
Impeachment of Witnesses Because of Inconsistent Statements
(Defendant with No Felony Conviction Testifies)
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 the misstatement may depend on
whether the misstatement was about an important fact or about an unimportant
detail. A defendant has a right not to testify.
But since the Defendant did testify, you should decide whether you believe
the Defendant’s testimony in the same way as that of any other witness.
Provenance
- Source
- ca11.uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-20
- Edition
- criminal-2024-04
- Content hash
2d801d6c618fa89067ea7fbaeac1141244b201560cf87caad45a93d7fc5a1371
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