Can a person testify in court if they were intoxicated on the night of the alleged incident?
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Can a person testify in court if they were intoxicated on the night of the alleged incident?
Asked on January 13, 2012 under Criminal Law, New York
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Yes, a person who was intoxicated the night of the event of a crime can give testimony in court about the incident later on. The problem is that the person who is giving testimony in court can very easily be discredited as to his or her ability to recall events once there is some mention that the witness had been drinking alcohol.
It gets worse for the witness as being a credible witness as to the testimony being given if evidence comes in that he or she was actually intoxicated the night of the incident that you are writing about. As a result, the trier of fact could very easily disbelieve all testimony of this particular witness.
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