Coles v. Harsch Case Brief

Coles v. Harsch 129 Or. 11, 276 P. 248 (1929) • Coles and Harsch and their wives were part of the same social group. Harsch had a propensity for engaging Coles' wife in 'wrestling matches'. • Coles did not approve of this behavior. • Eventually Coles' wife left him and filed for divorce. • Coles sued Harsch for $50k, charging that Harsch had maliciously shown "improper affection" to Coles wife, resulting in her becoming alienated and leaving him. • At trial, Harsch called a guy named Thompson as a witness. Thompson testified that Harsh wrestled with a lot of people's wives and it was totally harmless. • Later, Coles testified that Thompson once told him that Harsch's behavior was disgraceful. • Harsch objected on the grounds that the testimony was hearsay. • Coles argued that the testimony was meant to impeach the credibility of Harsch as a witness, not to prove the truth of the matter asserted. • Harsch argued that Coles never asked Thompson about the incident while cross-examining him, and therefore it was improper to introduce Coles' testimony to impeach Thompson. • The Trial Judge allowed the testimony to be admitted. • The Trial Court found for Coles and awarded $17.5k in damages. Harsch appealed. • The Oregon Supreme Court reversed. • The Oregon Supreme Court looked to Oregon State rules of evidence and found that in order to introduce a prior statement impeaching a witness, you must ask the witness about the alleged prior statement during cross-examination, and give them the opportunity to explain the prior statement. Project Wonderful -Your ad here, right now, for as low as $0