Is a defendant's right to cross-examine a witness on cross-examination permissible?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Herrera, H044475 (Cal. App. 2020):

"As a general matter, a defendant is entitled to explore whether a witness has been offered any inducements or expects any benefits for his or her testimony, as such evidence is suggestive of bias." (People v. Brown (2003) 31 Cal.4th 518, 544.) However, a defendant's "right to cross-examination is not a matter of 'absolute right.' Although . . . '[c]ross-examination to test the credibility of a prosecuting witness in a criminal case should be given wide latitude' [citation], such latitude does not 'prevent the trial court from imposing reasonable limits on defense counsel's inquiry based on concerns about harassment, confusion of the issues, or relevance' [citation]. Moreover, reliance on Evidence Code section 352 to exclude evidence of marginal impeachment value that would entail the undue consumption of time generally does not contravene a defendant's constitutional rights to confrontation and cross-examination." (Id. at p. 545.)

"The trial court retains wide latitude to restrict repetitive, prejudicial, confusing, or marginally relevant cross-examination. Unless the defendant can show that the prohibited cross-examination would have created a significantly different impression of the witness's credibility, the trial court's exercise of discretion to restrict cross-examination does not violate the constitutional right of confrontation." (People v.

Page 15

Snchez (2016) 63 Cal.4th 411, 450-451 [citing, among other cases, Delaware v. Van Arsdall (1986) 475 U.S. 673, 680].)

Other Questions


What waiver of appeal rights apply to a criminal defendant who knowingly waives any significant right such as constitutional rights? (California, United States of America)
Does a defendant who is read his Miranda rights knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waive their right to remain silent have knowingly waived their rights? (California, United States of America)
Does a limitation on cross-examining a prosecution witness at trial violate a defendant's right to confront the witness? (California, United States of America)
Is a defendant's right to due process violated when evidence of a witness's identification of that defendant is admitted? (California, United States of America)
Is a defendant's claim that the trial court's failure to provide him with the means and subpoena witnesses to defend at trial a violation of his Sixth Amendment right to represent himself at trial reversible? (California, United States of America)
Is a plaintiff's right to call a witness that is not a witness in the trial of a defendant not to be reviewed by the Court of Appeal? (California, United States of America)
Is there any case law supporting a defendant's contention that the trial court violated his constitutional right to confront witnesses in the witness box? (California, United States of America)
Is a defendant's right to due process violated when evidence of a witness's identification of that defendant is admitted? (California, United States of America)
Does Defendant have any grounds to argue that the Court's recent rulings in a civil case against the Defendant violated the Defendant's civil rights? (California, United States of America)
What is the current state of the law on the right of a witness not to confront a defendant in a witness box? (California, United States of America)
X



Alexi white


"The most advanced legal research software ever built."

Trusted by top litigators from across North America.