CREDIBILITY
- IMMIGRATION STATUS OF A WITNESS
You have heard evidence that [name of
witness] [[name of witnesses] [is] [are] in this country in violation of federal immigration laws
and, therefore, may be deported.
This evidence may be used by you in
assessing the credibility or believability of [name of witness] [names of
witnesses] testimony. However, [name of witness] [names of witnesses] immigration status may be used only to
the extent you determine that it has biased [name of witness] [name of
witnesses] in favor of the State, that is to say, if you believe that [name of
witness] [name of witnesses] testified as [he] [she] [they] did because of the threat of deportation, real or
imagined, and because [he] [she] [they] hoped that [his] [her] [their]
testifying would help [him] [her] [them] to avoid deportation.
That said, you may not use the mere fact
that [name of witness] [name of witnesses] may be [...] in this country in
violation of federal immigration laws to conclude that [he] [she] [they]
[is] [are] less likely to comply with our society’s rules and, therefore, more
likely to ignore the oath requiring truthfulness on the witness stand. Indeed,
that [name of witness] [name of witnesses] may be here in violation of federal immigration laws does not, in and of
itself, affect [his] [her] [their] credibility. Rather, the focus must be on
whether [name of witness] [name of witnesses] immigration status has improperly influenced [his] [her] [their]
testimony.
Finally, you are not obligated to consider the witness'[es'] immigration
status as having any particular effect
on his/her/their credibility. You may, however, consider this evidence,
in light of my instructions, along with all the other factors we previously discussed
in determining the credibility of [name of witness][name of witnesses].
