Can a prosecuting attorney be disqualified as a witness?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Hernandez, 235 Cal.App.3d 674, 286 Cal.Rptr. 652 (Cal. App. 1991):

When a prosecuting attorney is a witness to a crime, the true danger lies not in his having witnessed the event, but in his performing the dual role of prosecutor and witness. If he is to prosecute the case, and also to testify as a prosecution witness, he should be disqualified. It would be impossible for him to be a part of the evidence and, at the same time, to present that evidence impartially as is his bounden duty. (See, Berger v. United States (1935) 295 U.S. 78, 88, 55 S.Ct. 629, 633, 79 L.Ed. 1314.)

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