Impeachment undermines a witness's believability rather than disproving the underlying facts directly. Recognized methods include prior inconsistent statements, evidence of bias or interest, contradiction by other evidence, defects in perception or memory, character for untruthfulness, and certain prior convictions.
Any party may impeach any witness, including one they called.
Alternative Names:
Witness Impeachment, Credibility Attack
Why it Matters?
Impeachment is what makes deposition testimony valuable at trial, since a witness who deviates from prior sworn answers can be confronted with the transcript. Effective impeachment is usually built during discovery rather than improvised at trial, which is why locking witnesses into specific answers under oath is a deliberate deposition objective rather than a byproduct.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Can a party impeach its own witness?
Is a prior inconsistent statement admissible as substantive evidence?
