Opinion
November 24, 1997
Appeal from the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Diana A. Johnson, J.).
Sedgwick, Detert, Moran Arnold, New York City ( Jack Gross and Paul Milberg of counsel), for appellant.
Velda Graves, respondent pro se.
MEMORANDUM.
Judgment unanimously reversed, without costs, and matter remanded to the court below for a new trial.
Cross-examination of an adverse witness is a matter of right in every trial of a disputed issue of fact ( Friedel v. Board of Regents, 296 N.Y. 347, 352; Hill v. Arnold, 226 A.D.2d 232). Also, cross-examination is the principal means by which the believability of a witness and the truth of testimony is tested ( Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 315-316).
A review of the record on appeal indicates that the court below prohibited defendant from cross-examining plaintiff since it did not have witnesses available for plaintiff to cross-examine. We find that the court below erred in its determination that defendant's ability to cross-examine plaintiff was contingent upon defendant presenting witnesses for plaintiff to cross-examine. Although the procedures in Small Claims Court are relaxed, the rules of substantive law must be followed and a person's constitutional right to due process of law includes the basic right to cross-examine witnesses (CCA 1804; Friedel v. Board of Regents, supra).
KASSOFF, P.J., ARONIN and CHETTA, JJ., concur.