United States v. Tremane D. Carthen

I join the panel's opinion in full. I write separately to explain that our precedents interpreting Federal Rule of Evidence 608(b) to prohibit impeachment by contradiction are irreconcilable with the current text of that Rule. "Impeachment by contradiction occurs when a party offers evidence to prove that a fact to which a witness testified is not true." 27 Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice and Procedure § 6096 (2d ed. 2007). But the current version of Rule 608(b) regulates the admission of evidence of a witness's character for truthfulness or untruthfulness, not impeachment by…