Chapter 6 - § 6.4 • JUDGE QUESTIONS

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 6.4 • JUDGE QUESTIONS

Colorado

➢ General. "The court may interrogate witnesses, whether called by itself or by a party." CRE 614(b).

➢ Duty of Court. The court sometimes has a duty to question witnesses in order to develop the truth more fully and to clarify testimony. People v. Rodriguez, 209 P.3d 1151, 1162 (Colo. App. 2008); Eggert v. Mosler Safe Co., 730 P.2d 895, 897 (Colo. App. 1986); People v. Ray, 640 P.2d 262 (Colo. App. 1981).

➢ Limitations. The standard regarding the propriety of a judge's question to a witness is whether the court so departed from its required impartiality as to deny any party a fair trial. Sanchez v. Lauffenburger, 784 P.2d 855, 857 (Colo. App. 1989); Eggert, 730 P.2d at 897. "[W]hen a trial judge elects to raise matters to promote a just determination of a trial, the judge must take great care to insure that he [or she] does not become an advocate, and the purpose of the questions must be to further develop the truth and to clarify testimony already given." Rodriguez, 209 P.3d at 1162 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).
➢ Instruction to be Given. The Colorado Jury Instructions note that questions by the court are not encouraged and provide an instruction that should be given to jurors "immediately before" the court directs a question to a witness. See CJI-Civ. 1:16 (CLE ed. 2018), Notes on Use. The instruction specifically notes that the attorneys have a right to object to the court's question. Further, the court should instruct the jury that it may not be prejudiced against any party simply because a party's attorney objected to the

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