CPL § 60.15

Rules of evidence; what witnesses may be called · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 60.15 Rules of evidence; what witnesses may be called.

1. Unless otherwise expressly provided, in any criminal proceeding involving a defendant in which evidence is or may be received, both the people and the defendant may as a matter of right call and examine witnesses, and each party may cross-examine every witness called by the other party.

2. A defendant may testify in his own behalf, but his failure to do so is not a factor from which any inference unfavorable to him may be drawn.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CPL/60.15

In plain English

This section sets who may call witnesses in a criminal proceeding and protects a defendant's choice not to testify.

(1) Unless otherwise expressly provided, in any criminal proceeding involving a defendant in which evidence is or may be received, both the People and the defendant may call and examine witnesses as of right, and each may cross-examine every witness the other calls. ★
(2) The defendant may testify on his own behalf, but no unfavorable inference may be drawn from the defendant's failure to testify. ★

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 2 — The Court Officer: Criminal Procedure Law; Volume 2 — Your Career: Criminal Procedure in Plain English.