Weird Colorado Laws – There Are No Liars in Colorado Courts – The Law Offices of Steven Rodemer, Colorado Springs

(Aspect I: ODD Laws IN COLORADO)

In courtroom dramas on Tv or in the movies, there is certainly generally a scene exactly where a witness, even just after swearing on a stack of Bibles and his useless mother’s grave that he will tell the real truth, the entire truth of the matter and practically nothing but the fact, requires the witness stand and then claims one thing which is not accurate.

On-display screen, just one of the attorneys leaps to their feet, points their finger at the witness, and shouts for the full courtroom to hear:

“LIAR!”

In the State of Colorado, nevertheless, this can never ever occur – there are no “lies” or “liars” in Colorado courts.

In Colorado, as the Colorado Supreme Courtroom wrote in the scenario of Crider v. People, 186 P.3d 39, 41 (Colo. 2008), “it is improper for a law firm to use any type of the phrase ‘lie’ in characterizing for a jury a witness’s testimony or his truthfulness.”

That certain phrase is banned “for a quantity of explanations. It is prohibited not only because it poses a chance of communicating the lawyer’s own feeling about the veracity of a witness and implying that the attorney is privy to info not ahead of the jury, but also simply because the term ‘lie’ is an inflammatory time period, probably (no matter whether or not basically created) to evoke powerful and negative psychological reactions from the witness.”

As significantly back as in 1981, the Colorado Supreme Courtroom has claimed, as they did in the situation of Hughes v. Condition, 437 A. 2d 559, 571 (Colo. 1981), “In our view, ‘liar’ is an epithet to be utilised sparingly in argument to the jury. It is a flashboard much more very likely to generate heat in a contentious courtroom than it is to illuminate the lookup for truth of the matter. […] We say this since a witness or a party may be mistaken, uninformed, or faulty in his specifics or conclusions in numerous means, and nevertheless not be a liar labeling a witness as a ‘liar’ or to argue that he has ‘lied’ is to say one thing very unique about his testimony.”

“Some words or analogies by their really nature resonate much more powerfully in the heart and minds of the jury,” the Colorado Supreme Courtroom wrote in the scenario of Domingo-Gomez v. People, 125 P.3d 1043 1050 (Colo. 2005). This sort of text “evoke solid reactions in jurors and take them down the path toward a conviction where the evidence does not necessarily lead. The word ‘lie’ is these kinds of a potent expression that it necessarily displays the personal feeling of the speaker. When spoken by the State’s agent in the courtroom, the phrase ‘lie’ has the dangerous likely of swaying the jury from their duty to decide the accused’s guilt or innocence on the proof properly offered at trial.”

In other text, if a law firm phone calls anything a “lie,” it is such a stunning curse that a jury may perhaps not be able to get in excess of it, and may well convict an otherwise harmless human being, just due to the fact they feel so strongly about “liars.”

Thus, no attorney is permitted to at any time use any variation of the word “lie” in Colorado courtrooms.

While odd guidelines are entertaining to browse about, we know that when you might be sitting down in the courtroom, it is hardly ever pleasurable or entertaining. The experienced felony protection crew at The Law Offices of Steven Rodemer is right here to support you navigate the criminal justice technique and ensure your rights are shielded throughout the process. Contact us right now to assure you get the professional lawful illustration you should have.