Akademik

re·ha·bil·i·tate /ˌrē-ə-'bi-lə-ˌtāt, ˌrē-hə-/ vt -tat·ed, -tat·ing

1: to restore to a former capacity; specif: to restore credibility to (a witness or testimony)

the State simply brought out all of the prior statements to qualify or explain the inconsistency and to rehabilitate the witness — People v. Page, 550 N.E.2d 248 (1990) compare impeach

◇ A witness whose trial testimony is inconsistent with his or her pretrial usu. sworn statements is considered impeached. Such a witness may be rehabilitated usu. on redirect examination. There are various state and federal evidentiary rules governing what evidence (as character evidence) is admissible to rehabilitate a witness.

2 a: to restore to a former state (as of good repair or solvency)

if the debtor wishes to liquidate rather than reorganize or rehabilitate the farming operation — J. H. Williamson

b: to restore (as a convicted criminal defendant) to a useful and constructive place in society through therapy, job training, and other counseling

re·ha·bil·i·ta·tion /-ˌbi-lə-'tā-shən/ n