Griffith v. State
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of a Class C felony battery. Defendant appealed, arguing that he was denied a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense because the trial court prevented him from presenting testimony of two witnesses that were critical to his claim of self-defense. At trial, Defendant asserted that the testimony was necessary for the purpose of impeaching the victim’s testimony that he had not been the aggressor. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) under Ind. R. Evid. 613(b), extrinsic evidence of a prior inconsistent statement may be admitted before or after a witness is given the opportunity to explain or deny the alleged statement; and (2) in accordance with this interpretation, the trial court properly exercised its discretion in excluding Defendant’s proposed extrinsic evidence.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.