In what circumstances have the courts permitted the admission of statements from a defendant to police as evidence for impeachment purposes?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Hopson, 219 Cal.Rptr.3d 717, 3 Cal.5th 424, 396 P.3d 1054 (Cal. 2017):

In Walder v. United States (1954) 347 U.S. 62, 74 S.Ct. 354, 98 L.Ed. 503 (Walder ), the high court permitted physical evidence, earlier excluded on Fourth Amendment grounds, to be used for impeachment purposes where the defendant testified, inconsistently with the evidence seized, that he had never purchased, sold or possessed any narcotics. The high court concluded that the evidence had been properly admitted: "It is one thing to say that the Government cannot make an affirmative use of evidence unlawfully obtained. It is quite another to say that the defendant can turn the illegal method by which evidence in the Government's possession was obtained to his own advantage, and provide himself with a shield against contradiction of his untruths." (Id . at p. 65, 74 S.Ct. 354.) The high court explained that a contrary conclusion "would be a perversion of the Fourth Amendment" because "there is hardly justification for letting the defendant affirmatively resort to perjurious testimony in reliance on the Government's disability to challenge his credibility." (Ibid . )

In Harris v. New York (1971) 401 U.S. 222, 91 S.Ct. 643, 28 L.Ed.2d 1, the high court permitted the admission of a defendant's statements to police,

[3 Cal.5th 464]

Other Questions


In what circumstances have the courts permitted the admission of statements from a defendant to police as evidence for impeachment purposes? (California, United States of America)
In what circumstances have defendants been denied access to impeached impeachment evidence by the Court? (California, United States of America)
In what circumstances have the courts failed to instruct a jury that a defendant cannot be convicted based on out-of-court statements? (California, United States of America)
How does the Court of Appeal review a trial court's ruling to admit evidence over defendant's objection based on evidence section 352? (California, United States of America)
What is the test for admitting an admission of a statement to a police officer that he would kill the first police officer to step inside his cell if he was not permitted to visit with his wife? (California, United States of America)
Can a Defendant challenge a finding that the victim's statements to police officers were admissible as prior inconsistent statements? (California, United States of America)
Does the Court have authority to exclude evidence where a defendant has been found to be contrary to the evidence code under section 352 of the California Evidence Code? (California, United States of America)
When a defendant's out-of-court statement is admitted to a jury, does the court have to instruct the jury that this evidence must be viewed with caution? (California, United States of America)
When a defendant's extrajudicial statements form part of the prosecution's evidence, does the trial court have to instruct sua sponte that a finding of guilt cannot be predicated on the statements alone? (California, United States of America)
When a defendant has adopted a statement as his own as an adoptive admission, is that statement admissible under the hearsay rule? (California, United States of America)
X



Alexi white


"The most advanced legal research software ever built."

Trusted by top litigators from across North America.