Witness for the Prosecution: The Civil War Letter of Lieutenant George Taylor

Abstract

/X prosecutor must present the jury with evidence against the defendant which is believable beyond a reasonable doubt. Testimony based on hearsay or the recollections of a witness several years after the crime are always subject to damaging critique by the defense. To bolster a case based on a stale reminiscence, the prosecution may use corroborating evidence: the same story told by two different parties. However, if a sharp defense attorney can show that both sources are of equal antiquity, the corroboration strategy can still be easily defused. The best testimony for substantiating old stories is a witness deposition taken immediately after the crime was committed. The introduction of such evidence can confirm the truth of the dated accounts and win the case for the prosecution.