Rule 607: Who May Impeach a Witness

Rule 607 abolishes the old common law rule that a party could not impeach its own witness. Under the modern rule, any party — including the party that called the witness to the stand — may attack that witness's credibility. This reflects the reality that parties do not always have a choice about which witnesses to call and cannot always predict what a witness will say.

The rule is simple in concept but raises an important strategic concern. Some courts have recognized that a party should not call a witness solely for the purpose of introducing otherwise inadmissible evidence under the guise of impeachment. For example, a prosecutor should not call a witness they know will deny involvement just so they can introduce that witness's prior inconsistent statement (which might contain hearsay) under the pretense of impeaching their own witness.

Despite this limitation, Rule 607 is a significant liberalization. A party stuck with a hostile or forgetful witness can now challenge that witness's testimony through the full range of impeachment techniques: prior inconsistent statements, bias, character for untruthfulness, contradiction, and specific instances of conduct.