Utah Jury Instruction - Impeachment - Bad Reputation or Opinion Concerning Truthfulness - May Be Used With 6.1 - 6. 6

• Category: Federal - Jury Instructions - Basic Criminal Claim Instructions
• State: Multi-State
• Control #: US-11CR-6-7
• Format: Word; Rich Text

Description

This form contains sample jury instructions, to be used across the United States. These questions are to be used only as a model, and should be altered to more perfectly fit your own cause of action needs.

In Utah, when it comes to the impeachment of a witness's credibility, a specific jury instruction is provided known as "Utah Jury Instruction Impeachmenten— - Bad Reputation or Opinion Concerning Truthfulness — May Be Used With 1 – 6 6.6." This instruction allows the jury to consider the witness's bad reputation or opinions concerning their truthfulness to evaluate their credibility. Let's explore the different aspects and types of this jury instruction in more detail: 1. Bad Reputation: If a witness has a history or reputation for being untruthful, the jury is allowed to use this information to assess the witness's credibility. It means that a person's reputation for dishonesty can be considered as evidence that their testimony in the present case might be less reliable. The jury instruction emphasizes that such evidence should be evaluated cautiously and not be considered conclusive on its own. 2. Opinion Concerning Truthfulness: Under this jury instruction, the jury is also permitted to consider the opinions of others who have had personal experiences with the witness regarding their truthfulness. This allows individuals who have interacted with the witness to provide their feedback and evaluation of their trustworthiness. However, like bad reputation evidence, opinions regarding truthfulness should also be treated with caution and assessed in light of other evidence presented. Different types of Utah Jury Instruction Impeachmenten— - Bad Reputation or Opinion Concerning Truthfulness — May Be Used With 1 – 6 6.6 may include: — Admissibility: This aspect of the instruction focuses on guiding the judge in determining the admissibility of evidence related to the witness's bad reputation or the opinions regarding their truthfulness. The judge needs to evaluate the relevance and reliability of such evidence before allowing it to be presented to the jury. — Weighing the Evidence: This type of instruction guides the jury on how to assess the credibility of the witness based on the evidence of bad reputation or opinions about truthfulness. It may emphasize that such evidence should be considered along with other factors, such as consistency, demeanor, and other corroborating evidence. — Cautionary Language: Some instructions may entail cautionary language, emphasizing that bad reputation or opinions do not automatically render a witness's testimony false or unreliable. They serve as additional factors to be taken into account, but the final determination of credibility relies on the jury's evaluation of all the evidence presented. It is important to note that specific variations or additional instructions may exist in the Utah jury instruction set for impeaching a witness's credibility. These variations might account for different legal contexts or the nature of the case. Legal practitioners and judges refer to the official Utah Jury Instructions for precise guidelines on this subject.