Trial judges and juries are often faced with having to make judgments about the credibility of a witness’s testimony. There are certain rules, however, which make this task a bit simpler.
Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus is a term which literally means “false in one thing, false in everything.” As a practical matter, this doctrine means that if the testimony of a witness at trial on a material issue is shown to be intentionally false, the fact finder (the judge or jury) is permitted to disregard all of the witness’s testimony. Stated differently, once you are branded as a liar, everything you say in the courtroom can be disbelieved by the trier of fact.
In our next issue, we tackle et ux, et al, etc.!
— BBC&B