Friends husband wants me to write a letter for his lawyer

[FriendsDivorce]

My friend lives in NY and is currently going through a divorce. She has cheated on her husband and in the last two yrs or so been diagnosed as being bipolar. I no longer have any contact with her at all. Her husband's family recently contacted me to ask if I would write a statement about her behavior, have it notorized and give it to him for his lawyer to use. I guess they are trying to have several people write statements about her character he wants everything 50-50,, house, custody of kids and all, she doesn't. She is fighting him on everything, she wants full custody and child support. My question is this,, if I write a statement for his lawyer am I opening myself up for involvement in the court case. Can I be forced to come into court and testify. I really don't want to be involved. I feel bad about the situation he is in with having two kids and my ex-friend is not well and really should not have full custody of those kids, they will end up as screwed up as she is. BUT, I don't want to have to go to court simply because I wrote a statement for his lawyer. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Boxcarbill]

If you don't want to be testify in court, then don't write the letter. The letter, notarized or not, is not admissiable to prove the matters stated in the letter. The letter is hearsay. Hearsay, unless it fits within an exception, is not admissible because it is unreliable. The l;tter cannot be cross-examined; only the witness who is on the stand can be cross-examined and that is how credibility of the testimony is tested. If, however, you write the letter, then his lawyer will know what you know and will subponea you to testify and if you change your story, he can use the letter that you wrote to "refresh your recollection." If you don't want to get involved, then do not become involved--translation: stop talking about or talk where it will do some good.

 

[FriendsDivorce]

Thank you

Thank you for the information that is what I thought. I definitely do not want to get involved but his parents and the cousin were stressing that all I would have to do was write a letter. I had a feeling that they were wrong about that. I don't want to submit anything and open myself up to her lawyer or his laywer forcing me into court. thank you very much for the information.

 

[VeeGee]

Friendsdivorce....do yourself a favor and save yourself alot of headaches by staying out of it. If you do not want to get involved, then tell his family that and don't get involved. A friend of mine got involved in her friends divorce....not only was she dragged back and forth to court, but lost both as friends.