A Case Study in How Judges Determine Witness Credibility

When a judge hears from multiple witnesses, he or she must make a decision on how much weight to give to what each witness says. Bankruptcy judges frequently make their credibility decisions a part of their opinions. This is both helpful to the parties and increases the likelihood that fact findings will not be found to be clearly erroneous on appeal.

Judge H. Christopher Mott's opinion in Adv. No. 18-1091, Kansas City Southern Railway v. Chavez, which can be found here is a good illustration on how judges assess credibility. For more background on the case, you can read my prior post here.  During the trial, Judge Mott heard testimony from thirteen witnesses, some of whom testified live and some of whom testified by deposition.  I have listed the witnesses below and have quoted Judge Mott's credibility findings.