Lawyer's Mumbo Jumbo

PHRASE: Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus 

MEANING: It is a legal maxim meaning "false in one testimony ... false in all testimony.  It is a common law principle suggesting that a witness or a resource person who willfully lies about one matter may be deemed not credible for any other matter.

It is a legal principle that when a person falsely testifies in his statements ... he is not believable and reliable to continue to say something about another thing.

If you are deceitful in one ...you are deceitful in all. 

So when he perjured himself once ... his entire testimony, validation, and proof became suspicious and distrustful.

The saying is almost similar to: "Once a liar ... always a liar."

USING IT IN A SENTENCE: Congresswoman Gerville Luistro of Batangas uses this Latin phrase: "Falsus in uno ... falsus in omnibus" when she delivered her closing argument after a draining interrogation and an exhausted cross-examination with contractor Curlee Discaya.

She further criticized Discaya for "selective amnesia," noting that his memory was immaculately flawless as he enumerated the congressmen who were asking for money in this administration. However, suddenly, he lost track of whether congressmen and senators were asking the same in the last administration.

Whether her observations are true or not ... or whether she crushed an eel like Discaya's testimonial ... we will know in the future episodes.

Abangan ang mga susunod na kabanata!