(DOWNLOAD) "Impeachment of a Civil Litigant with Criminal Convictions (Florida)" by Florida Bar Journal * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Impeachment of a Civil Litigant with Criminal Convictions (Florida)
- Author : Florida Bar Journal
- Release Date : January 01, 2009
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 66 KB
Description
Approximately one in 10 adult male Floridians has a criminal record. (1) Surprisingly, however, most civil litigation attorneys do not routinely investigate whether an adverse party or witnesses have a criminal background. They are overlooking a key item of discovery, because the introduction of a civil litigant's conviction could have a highly prejudicial effect on that person's credibility, since most juries do not look sympathetically toward a litigant who has a criminal background. Although conventionally one thinks of utilizing a criminal conviction against a civil litigant in a personal injury case, the use of such a conviction is equally useful to impeach a party or witness in a commercial case. This article discusses how to discover whether a civil witness has one or more criminal convictions and the admissibility of such convictions in Florida state and federal courts. In addition, it provides advice on how to minimize the prejudicial effect of such convictions.