Can a prosecutor cross-examine a witness to state that the witness is offering false testimony?

MultiRegion, United States of America

The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Henry, 47 F.3d 17 (2nd Cir. 1995):

This court has disallowed prosecutorial cross-examination that compels a witness to state that a law enforcement officer is offering false testimony. United States v. Richter, 826 F.2d 206, 208-09 (2d Cir.1987). The prosecutor's cross-examination of Reese indirectly challenged Reese to dispute the prosecutor's own credibility. Because such cross-examination directed the jury "to trust the Government's judgment rather than its own view of the evidence," United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 18-19, 105 S.Ct. 1038, 1048, 84 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985), it should have been excluded. Yet because of its isolated nature, we doubt that this single improper question to Reese could have affected the jury's deliberation.

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