TESTIFYING AS A CHARACTER WITNESS

A judge shall not testify as a character witness in a judicial, administrative, or other adjudicatory proceeding or otherwise vouch for the character of a person in a legal proceeding, except when duly summoned. Unless there are unusual circumstances under which the demands of justice require, a judge should discourage a party from requiring the judge to testify as a character witness. Code Comparison The Hawaiʻi Revised Code of Judicial Conduct modifies ABA Model Code Rule 3.3 by incorporating part of Comment [1] into the Rule. COMMENT: [1]A judge who, without being subpoenaed, testifies as a character witness lends or misuses the prestige of judicial office to advance the interests of another. See Rule 1.3.