Miss. R. Evid. 614

As amended through March 21, 2024

Rule 614 - Court's Calling or Examining a Witness

(a) Calling. The court may call a witness on its own or at a party's request. Each party is entitled to cross-examine the witness.

(b)Examining. The court may examine a witness regardless of who calls the witness.

(c)Objections. A party may object to the court's calling or examining a witness either at that time or at the next opportunity when the jury is not present.

Miss. R. Evid. 614

Restyled eff. 7/1/2016.

Advisory Committee Note

The language of Rule 614 has been amended as part of the general restyling of the Evidence Rules to make them more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. These changes are intended to be stylistic only. There is no intent to change any result in any ruling on evidence admissibility.

Rule 614 is, in general, similar to Mississippi practice.

Subsection (a) reflects the recognized authority of the trial judge to call witnesses. When the court calls its own witness, any party has the right to cross-examine that witness.

Subsection (b) codifies the traditional authority, recognized in Mississippi and elsewhere, of the judge to interrogate the witness directly. The judge abuses this authority, however, when he abandons his judicial detachment and assumes an advocacy position. See Jones v. State, 223 Miss. 812, 79 So.2d 273 (1955), appeal dismissed, cert. denied, 350 U.S. 869 [76 S.Ct. 116, 100 L.Ed. 770] (1955), rehearing denied, 350 U.S. 919 [76 S.Ct. 192, 100 L.Ed. 805 (1955); The appellate court can in such cases reverse for abuse of discretion. See Breland v. State, 180 Miss. 830, 178 So. 817 (1938).

The case of Griffin v. Tate, 171 Miss. 70, 156 So. 652 (1934), established guidelines for judicial interrogation which may be helpful in setting the parameters of Subsection (b). Griffin mentions by way of illustration some instances in which judicial interrogation would be appropriate: when a nervous witness needs to be calmed or is reluctant to testify or is confused as well as when the witness has important information which has not been elicited from him.

Subsection (c) is an attempt to relieve counsel from the embarrassing position of objecting in the jury's presence to the judge's interrogation. It allows, moreover, sufficient time for counsel to make the objections in time for corrective measures.

["Advisory Committee Note" substituted for "Comment," effective June 16, 2016; amended July 1, 2016, to note restyling; further amended effective July 1, 2017.]

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