Bolstering Evidence Objection In Texas

"Bolstering" Objections: Bolstering occurs when the proponent offers evidence solely to convince the fact finder that a particular witness or source of evidence is worthy of credit when the credibility of that witness or source has not been attacked. Cohn v. State, 849 S.W.2d 817, 819 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993). Bolstering does not occur when evidence or a source of evidence corroborates other evidence and is also relevant, i.e., when it contributes substantively "'to make the existence of a fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more or less probable than it would be without the evidence.'" Id. Evidence may not be excluded as bolstering simply because it corroborates other testimony. See id. at 820. Moreover, the witness need not have been impeached as a prerequisite to the admission of substantive evidence that might have the effect of incidentally bolstering other testimony. Cohn, 849 S.W.2d at 820-21 (rejecting reliance on rule 403 of the Rules of Evidence as requiring impeachment predicate); Yount v. State, 872 S.W.2d 706, 709 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993) (rejecting reliance on rule 702 as requiring impeaching predicate).