CHAPTER 356

An Act to amend and reenact § 8-293, as amended, of the Code of. Vir-
ginia, relating to contradiction of witnesses by prior inconsistent
statements.

[(S 825]

Approved March 31, 1964

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 8-293, as amended, of the Code of Virginia be amended and
reenacted as follows:

§ 8-298. A witness may be cross-examined as to previous statements
made by him in writing or reduced into writing, relative to the subject
matter of the proceeding, without such writing being shown to him; but
if it is intended to contradict such witness by the writing his attention
must, before such contradictory proof can be given, be called to the
particular occasion on which the writing is supposed to have been made,
and he may be asked if he did not make a writing of the purport of the
one to be offered to contradict him, and if he denies making it, or does
not admit its execution, it shall then be shown to him, and if he admits
its genuineness, he shall be allowed to make his own explanation of it;
but it shall be competent for the court at any time during the trial to
require the production of the writing for its inspection, and the court
may thereupon make such use of it for the purpose of the trial as it may
think best. The provisions of this section shall apply to criminal as well
as civil cases. But this section is subject to this qualification, that in an
action to recover for a personal injury or death by wrongful act or neglect,
no ex parte affidavit or statement in writing other than a deposition,
after due notice, of a witness and no extra judicial recording of the voice
of such witness, or reproduction or transcript thereof, as to the facts or
circumstances attending the wrongful act or neglect complained of, shall
be used to contradict him as a witness in the case. But nothing in this
section shall be construed to prohibit the use of any such ex parte af-
fidavit or statement in an action on an insurance policy based upon a
judgment recovered in a personal injury or death by wrongful act case.