Calling and Interrogation of Witnesses by Court — Rule 614

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

Calling and Interrogation of Witnesses by Court — Rule 614

SUMMARY OF RULE 614

• The court may call witnesses, and all parties are entitled to cross-examine.
• The court may interrogate any witness.
• The party may object in a timely fashion to the calling of witnesses by the court.

LEGAL AUTHORITIES

• In a placement proceeding, the court allowed testimony of a relinquishing parent regarding concerns about placement, as the judge stated he would have called her as a witness on his own. People in Interest of A.D., 706 P.2d 7 (Colo. App. 1985).

• The court sometimes has a duty to question witnesses to develop the truth and to clarify testimony. People v. Ray, 640 P.2d 262 (Colo. App. 1981).

• "The test for inappropriate questions and comments by the trial court is whether its conduct so departed from the required impartiality...