Chapter 10 - § 10.5 USE OF A NEGATIVE

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 10.5 USE OF A NEGATIVE

Colorado

➢ General. "Evidence is not irrelevant simply because it tends to establish a fact through the use of a negative." Thus, evidence that a witness failed to identify the defendant as the robber in a similar transaction was admissible. The fact that it uses a negative goes to the weight of the evidence rather than its initial admissibility. Similarly, the absence of a public record or entry is admissible pursuant to CRE 801 and 803. People v. Bueno, 626 P.2d 1167, 1170 (Colo. App. 1981).
➢ Silence. The silence or failure of a party to object to oral or written statements may be considered as an admission against interest. Thus, if a party testifies on his or her own behalf and fails to deny a statement attributed to him or her in the testimony of his or her adversary, it may be inferred that the party, in fact, made the statement. Pace

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