THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 22 | NOVEMBER 2025 Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff. statute.5 First, the general rule is that the conviction must be within 10 years from the date of conviction or release from prison, whichever is later. If an attorney wishes to introduce evidence of a stale conviction, they must file notice 10 days prior to trial. The trial court then must determine if the specific facts and circumstances of the conviction outweigh its prejudicial effect. Another way to revive a stale felony conviction is if the witness has a conviction for a crime of moral turpitude, even a misdemeanor, within the past 10 years; that crime will revive the old conviction, but that does not allow the admission of the crime of moral turpitude.6 Further, the state’s filing of supplemental information does not provide notice to the defendant of intent to cross-examine based on stale convictions.7 When the trial court allows the introduction of hearsay, the opposing party may attack the credibility of a declarant as if they testified and support it with competent evidence.8 The reason for the rule is one of fairness. This rule allows the ability to submit evidence impeaching the declarant as if they had testified.9 First, a party may introduce evidence of the declarant’s character for truthfulness as provided.10 Second, a party may introduce evidence of prior criminal convictions under Okla. Stat. Tit. 12, §2609 (2002); FRE 609 (2011). One difference between impeaching a live witness and a declarant is that with a live witness, the impeachment concerns prior inconsistent statements. In contrast, with a declarant, it is likely with subsequent inconsistent statements.11 This rule gives the trial court discretion to allow impeachment testimony without requiring the declarant an opportunity to explain it because of the impracticability of doing so when the declarant is unavailable as a witness.12 The Oklahoma rule, however, is even more permissible and does not require a determination on whether the declarant had an opportunity to explain. The question then becomes, “How does a lawyer introduce the evidence to impeach the declarant?” If fortunate enough to have an investigator, lawyers need to run background checks on the declarant as they would on any other witness. If the declarant has any felony convictions or convictions for crimes of dishonesty, the easiest thing is to obtain certified copies of the declarant’s judgment and sentences. Sometimes, the client may be the best person to know people who know the declarant to be a liar and seek out those witnesses to testify about their character. Further, call all the witnesses to whom the declarant made conflicting statements. Seek out any written version of the declarant’s subsequent inconsistent statements: For example, did they write any text messages, emails, social media posts or sworn statements? If so, subpoena the person to whom the declarant wrote and have them testify. 404B EVIDENCE Character evidence is not admissible, except when a party can find a way for it to be, and the statute provides several reasons, including “proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident.” Practitioners seem to think that it only applies to criminal defendants, but it applies to civil cases and any witnesses. In criminal cases involving criminal defendants, the state must file a Burks notice 10 days prior to trial.13 Lawyers wanting to use this type of evidence against witnesses should file a similar notice to have a pretrial ruling on the issue rather than trying to argue the issues at the bench during cross-examination. RAPE SHIELD EXCEPTIONS The rape shield statute prohibits the introduction of opinion or character evidence regarding the victim’s sexual behavior and specific incidents of sexual behavior with anyone other than the accused.14 The statute also authorizes the impeachment of other sexual behavior if it shows proof of pregnancy, semen or injury but cannot introduce those incidents on the issue of consent. Rape shield also specifically allows the introduction of prior false allegations of sexual assault. One other exception is if the alleged victim participated in sexual activity in the accused’s presence. To impeach with any of those exceptions, the lawyer must file a motion 15 days prior to trial for the court to hold an in camera hearing to determine if the proffered evidence will be admissible; however, the trial court can allow such impeachment evidence if newly discovered, and due diligence could not have discovered it earlier. EXPERT WITNESSES Always object to the other side asking the judge to declare the witness as an “expert,” because that signals to the jury that the judge told them the witness is more important than others. The criminal jury instructions do not use the term “expert witness” but “opinion witness.” Further, the
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