Brian Banks

[JoeRedskin]

Not sure why it's so hard to prove. It's a one witness case.

Q: Mr. Banks did Ms. Gibson make any statements to you concerning her earlier testimony against you.
A: Yes, she admitted that she lied to me and that she had conspired with her mother to get money from the school system.

The rules for criminal prosecutions are different than what I normally work with, but the above is a perfectly legitimate admissable statement to use against the daughter. The statement is hearsay b/c: (1) it's an out of court statement, (2) by someone other than the witness and (3) offered for the truth of the statement (definition of hearsay). An exception to the hearsay rule, however, is an "admission against interest by a party". The policy behind the exception is that the opposing party is free to take the stand and testify - "I did not say that".

Put Banks on the stand let him testify and then make sleaze-bitch take the stand to deny. If she doesn't, we're done. If she does, my oh my even I could do that cross examination.

As I said, maybe something is different for criminal cases and there is a 5th Amendment self incrimination conflict (i.e. Someone could easily get on the stand and lie about a statement made by the accused. The accused is then faced with the dilemma of taking the stand to refute a lie but opening himself up to a broader cross-exam. For an innocent who has less then pristine past, it could present a catch-22).

At the same time, I am pretty sure it's admissable - the tape itself (recorded secretly) is probably not. It would not be admissable in Maryland.