MacCarthy on Impeachment

Book excerpt: Impeachment of witnesses is "an alien, mystifying and obtuse area of the law" write the authors of MacCarthy on Impeachment. While there are many books on evidence and trial advocacy, there is very little written specifically on the law of impeachment. Generally, impeachment law is found in the law of evidence, however, it frequently involves different applications of the law of evidence--which can be confusing. In MacCarthy on Impeachment, 16 methods of impeachment are discussed: inconsistent statements; contradictions; motivation; truthfulness; convictions; what the witness could of done, but did not; capacity; bad acts, crimes, and wrongs; habit, writing used to refresh memory; an opposing party's statement; the hearsay defendant; character witnesses; and certain evidence of sexual behavior by the alleged victim of the defendant. And for expert witnesses only, two methods of impeachment: qualifications and curriculum vitae and learned treatises. From the author of the legal classic, MacCarthy on Cross Examination, MacCarthy on Impeachment is a groundbreaking work that will become an indispensable resource for trial attorneys seeking to improve their skills and better serve their clients.