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

(Portion I: ODD Regulations IN COLORADO)

In courtroom dramas on Television set or in the videos, you can find generally a scene the place a witness, even immediately after swearing on a stack of Bibles and his dead mother’s grave that he will explain to the real truth, the full fact and absolutely nothing but the fact, usually takes the witness stand and then claims something which is not correct.

On-display, one particular of the lawyers leaps to their ft, factors their finger at the witness, and shouts for the complete courtroom to hear:

“LIAR!”

In the State of Colorado, nonetheless, this can by no means occur – there are no “lies” or “liars” in Colorado courts.

In Colorado, as the Colorado Supreme Court docket wrote in the scenario of Crider v. Individuals, 186 P.3d 39, 41 (Colo. 2008), “it is inappropriate for a attorney to use any kind of the phrase ‘lie’ in characterizing for a jury a witness’s testimony or his truthfulness.”

That distinct word is banned “for a number of explanations. It is prohibited not only due to the fact it poses a threat of communicating the lawyer’s individual view about the veracity of a witness and implying that the attorney is privy to facts not ahead of the jury, but also merely mainly because the word ‘lie’ is an inflammatory phrase, very likely (irrespective of whether or not actually created) to evoke strong and adverse psychological reactions in opposition to the witness.”

As considerably back again as in 1981, the Colorado Supreme Courtroom has mentioned, as they did in the circumstance of Hughes v. Condition, 437 A. 2d 559, 571 (Colo. 1981), “In our feeling, ‘liar’ is an epithet to be employed sparingly in argument to the jury. It is a flashboard additional likely to make heat in a contentious courtroom than it is to illuminate the search for truth. […] We say this simply because a witness or a get together may possibly be mistaken, uninformed, or faulty in his info or conclusions in a lot of ways, and nevertheless not be a liar labeling a witness as a ‘liar’ or to argue that he has ‘lied’ is to say something rather unique about his testimony.”

“Some text or analogies by their quite nature resonate far more powerfully in the coronary heart and minds of the jury,” the Colorado Supreme Courtroom wrote in the situation of Domingo-Gomez v. People, 125 P.3d 1043 1050 (Colo. 2005). This sort of words “evoke potent reactions in jurors and take them down the path toward a conviction where by the evidence does not always lead. The term ‘lie’ is these kinds of a solid expression that it essentially reflects the individual belief of the speaker. When spoken by the State’s representative in the courtroom, the phrase ‘lie’ has the perilous probable of swaying the jury from their obligation to ascertain the accused’s guilt or innocence on the evidence properly introduced at trial.”

In other text, if a attorney calls a little something a “lie,” it is these kinds of a stunning curse that a jury may perhaps not be equipped to get above it, and might convict an or else harmless human being, just simply because they experience so strongly about “liars.”

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

While odd laws are entertaining to browse about, we know that when you are sitting down in the courtroom, it is not often pleasurable or entertaining. The experienced legal defense staff at The Legislation Places of work of Steven Rodemer is below to assistance you navigate the criminal justice system and assure your rights are protected through the method. Contact us nowadays to ensure you get the specialist lawful representation you ought to have.