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Evidence 6

The document discusses different types of evidence including testimonial evidence. It outlines the definition and necessity of witnesses, their qualifications and competency. It also discusses different privileges that prevent certain individuals like spouses, attorneys, priests, and public officers from testifying without consent.

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Michael Quidor
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14 views

Evidence 6

The document discusses different types of evidence including testimonial evidence. It outlines the definition and necessity of witnesses, their qualifications and competency. It also discusses different privileges that prevent certain individuals like spouses, attorneys, priests, and public officers from testifying without consent.

Uploaded by

Michael Quidor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Testimonial Evidence

MOHAMMAD JAMALUL J. GIDUCOS


TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE

CONCEPT:

This is the third kind of evidence as to form. It is


evidence consisting of the narration of a person, known
as a witness, made under oath and in the course of the
judicial proceedings in which the evidence is offered.
TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE

WHO ARE WITNESS:

A witness is a natural person who testifies in a case or


one who gives oral evidence under oath before a judicial
tribunal. Evidence obtained through the presentation of
animals is treated as object evidence.
TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE

• Necessity of Witnesses: Objects and documents do not


explain themselves. Their relevance, meaning and
significance, can only be known through the testimony
of a witness. Likewise, events, as well as persons
involved in an event, can only be known through the
narration of a witness.

• Duty to Testify is a Legal Duty and not just a matter of


civic consciousness. This may be enforced by the
imposition of sanctions by the court, such as a citation
for contempt and consequent payment of a fine or
imprisonment.
QUALIFICATION OF WITNESS

• All persons who can perceive and perceiving can make


known their perception to others, may be witnesses

• Religious or political belief, interest in the outcome of


the case, or conviction of a crime, unless otherwise
provided by law, shall not be a ground for
disqualification (Rule 130, Rules on Evidence)
Qualities of a Witness

• Testimonial Quality of perception


• Testimonial Quality of memory
• Testimonial Quality of Narration or
Communication
• Testimonial Quality of Sincerity
COMPETENCY OF A WITNESS

• Competency is the legal fitness or legal capacity of a


person to testify as a witness. Competency involves a
determination of whether the person offered as a
witness has all the qualifications prescribed by law and
is not among those disqualified by law or by the rules of
evidence.
• Credibility goes to the character of the witness to be
believable or not. This goes to the truth of the
testimony. It includes the ability of the witness to
inspire belief or not.
PRESUMPTION OF COMPETENCY
OF A WITNESS

• When a person is offered as a witness, he is


presumed to be competent.
• He who claims otherwise has the burden of
proving the existence of a ground for
disqualification.
DISQUALIFICATION OF A
WITNESS

• Disqualification by reason of mental Incapacity or


immaturity
• Those whose mental condition at the time of their
production for examination, is such that they are
incapable of intelligently making known their perception
to others. (Mental incapacity)

• Children whose mental maturity is such as to render them


incapable of perceiving the facts respecting which they
are examined and of relating them truthfully. (Mental
Immaturity)
MENTAL INCAPACITY OF A
WITNESS

• Medically Insane persons unless they are testifying during their lucid
intervals.
• Persons medically sane may be considered as legally insane if at the
time they are to be presented as witness, they are incapable of
testifying truthfully or of being aware of the obligation to testify.
(drunks, under the influence of drugs)
• Mental defectives such as idiots, imbeciles or morons and other
mental retardates are not disqualified by this reason alone although
this may affect their credibility
• Deaf mutes are not disqualified so long as they are able to
communicate in some manner which can be understood and, in case
of the use of sign-language, the interpretation thereof can be
verified.
MENTAL IMMATURITY OF A
WITNESS

• Children of tender age whose mental maturity is such as


to render them incapable of perceiving the facts
respecting which they are examined and of relating them
truthfully.
• Age is not the criterion but the intelligence and
possession of the qualities of a witness
• A child is presumed to be competent to be a witness
MARITAL DISQUALIFICATION
RULE

During their marriage, the husband or the wife


cannot testify against the other without the
consent of the affected spouse, except in a civil
case by one against the other, or in a criminal
case for a crime committed by one against the
other or the latter’s direct descendants or
ascendants.
REQUISITES FOR MARITAL
DISQUALIFICATION RULE
• Marriage is valid and existing as of the time
of the offer of testimony.
• The other spouse is a party to the action.
• No consent from the spouse-litigant
• Not a civil case by one against the other, or
a criminal case for a crime committed by one
against the other or the latter's direct
descendants or ascendants.
WHEN SPOUSES MAY TESTIFY
AGAINST EACH OTHER
• In a civil case by one against the other, or
• In a criminal case for a crime committed by one against
the other or the latter's direct descendants or
ascendants.
• When the testimony was made outside the marriage
• When the marital relations are so strained, there is no
more consideration for applying the said rule. To apply
the exception there must be an offense that directly
attacks, or directly and vitally impairs, the conjugal
relation.
WHEN SPOUSES MAY TESTIFY
AGAINST EACH OTHER
• In a civil case by one against the other, or
• In a criminal case for a crime committed by one against
the other or the latter's direct descendants or
ascendants.
• When the testimony was made outside the marriage
• When the marital relations are so strained, there is no
more consideration for applying the said rule. To apply
the exception there must be an offense that directly
attacks, or directly and vitally impairs, the conjugal
relation.
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION

Marital Communications

The husband or the wife, during or after the


marriage, cannot be examined without the consent
of the other as to any communication received in
confidence by one from the other during the
marriage except in a civil case by one against the
other, or in a criminal case for a crime committed
by one against the other or the latter's direct
descendants or ascendants;
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION

ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGE


•An attorney or person reasonably believed by the
client to be licensed to engage in the practice of law
cannot, without the consent of the client, be examined
as to any communication made by the client to him or
her, or his or her advice given thereon in the course of,
or with a view to, professional employment, nor can an
attorney's secretary, stenographer, or clerk, or other
persons assisting the attorney be examined without the
consent of he client and his or her employer, concerning
any fact the knowledge of which has been acquired in
such capacity,
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION

PHYSICIAN-PATIENT PRIVILEGE
A physician, psychotherapist or person reasonably
believed by the patient to be authorized to practice
medicine or psychotherapy cannot in a civil case,
without the consent of the patient, be examined as to
any confidential communication made for the purpose of
diagnosis or treatment of the patient's physical, mental
or emotional condition, including alcohol or drug
addiction, between the patient and his or her physician
or psychotherapist. This privilege also applies to
persons, including members of the patient's family, who
have participated in the diagnosis or treatment of the
patient under the direction of the physician or
psychotherapist.
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION

• PRIEST-PENITENT PRIVILEGE

A minister, priest or person reasonably believed to be so


cannot, without the consent of the affected person, be
examined as to any communication or confession made
to or any advice given by him or her, in his or her
professional character, in the course of discipline
enjoined by the church to which the minister or priest
belongs.
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION

STATE SECRETS

A public officer cannot be examined during or after his or


her tenure as to communications made to him or her in
official confidence, when the court finds that the public
interest would suffer by the disclosure
Executive Privilege

It is the power of the government to withhold


information from the public, the court, and the Congress.

“Secrets involving military, diplomatic and national


security matters, and information on investigations of crimes
by law enforcement agencies before the prosecution of the
accused were exempted from the right to information. The
right to information does not also extend to presidential
conversations, correspondences, and discussions in
closed-door cabinet meetings, (Chavez v PEA,384 SCRA
152).”
Parental and Filial Privilege.

No person shall be compelled to testify against his


or her parents, other direct ascendants, children
or other direct descendants, except when such
testimony is indispensable in a crime against that
person or by one parent against the other.

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