During a car accident case, the plaintiff’s key witness testifies under oath that they saw the defendant speed through a red light at the intersection. The defendant’s counsel seeks to introduce a written affidavit from the witness, signed two days after the accident, in which the witness stated they had not seen the color of the traffic light but heard someone else say it was red. How should the court rule on admitting the affidavit to challenge the witness's in-court testimony?
The affidavit should be admitted to impeach the witness's credibility by showing inconsistency in their statements.
The affidavit should be allowed as substantive evidence to show that the witness did not see the traffic light.
The affidavit should be excluded because a witness cannot be impeached with their own written statements.
The affidavit should be excluded as inadmissible hearsay because it contains a factual claim about the traffic light’s color.
The affidavit is admissible for impeachment purposes because it directly contradicts the witness's in-court testimony regarding material facts important to the case. Contradicting a witness through prior statements is a well-established method of impeachment. It does not matter that the prior statement is hearsay for this purpose, as the statement is not being used to prove the truth of the matter asserted (e.g., whether the light was red) but rather to show inconsistency in the witness's assertions. In contrast, answers suggesting the affidavit is inadmissible because it is hearsay misapply the rule since hearsay exceptions for impeachment differ from substantive evidence rules. Similarly, answers claiming that the affidavit is admissible as substantive evidence misconstrue its restricted purpose in this context.
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