The Art of Cross-Examination

cross-examination n. the opportunity for the attorney (or an unrepresented party) to ask questions in court of a witness who has testified in a trial on behalf of the opposing party. The questions on cross-examination are limited to the subjects covered in the direct examination of the witness, but importantly, the attorney may ask leading questions, in which he/she is allowed to suggest answers or put words in the witness' mouth. (For example, "Isn't it true that you told Mrs. Jones she had done nothing wrong?" which is leading, as compared to "Did you say anything to Mrs. Jones?) A strong cross-examination (often called just "cross" by lawyers and judges) can force contradictions, expressions of doubts, or even complete obliteration of a witness' prior carefully-rehearsed testimony. On the other hand, repetition of a witness' story, vehemently defended, can strengthen his/her credibility.  

[Definition lifted from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/cross-examination]

 

 Enumerated hereinbelow are some of my personal observations on cross-examination of a witness in court:

1. cross-examination, preceded by direct examination, is sometimes done politely or with hostility;
2. it is intended to advance the party’s case and attack and weaken the other;
3. leading questions are not permitted during cross-examinations;
4. cross-examination is directed to weaken the adverse party by contradiction statements derived from the testimony of the opponent’s witness thus shifting the evidence in favor of the adverse party;
5. cross-examination, sometimes intimidates and confuses a witness on matters relevant to his testimony or may impeach the latter;
6. cross-examination, sometimes discredit a witness especially when his testimony does not conform with common sense, what other reliable or expert witnesses say, or with that of natural laws of physics;
7. cross-examination, in cases where a child is the witness, is done in a subtle and easy environment which may not be necessarily in the witness stand (or chair), and the questions submitted by counsels are usually asked, in his discretion, by the judge, so as not to increase the trauma of the witness and facilitate the ascertainment of the truth;
8. the questions in cross-examination are limited only to matters asked in the direct-examination or connected therewith;
9. cross-examination may strengthen or support the adverse party’s theory of the case;
10. closed-questions or locked-questions are usually asked by the counsel so that the witness does not have any opportunity to say other matters which will impact on the game plan of the defense party;
11. a question which was answered in a favorable manner to the adverse party is oftentimes repeated in order to give emphasis to the answer or statement;
12. when ever the witness has made any favorable answer or testimony in a cross-examination, the opposing counsel is careful not to discredit the witness as this may render nugatory the derived testimony;
13. if the opposing counsel notices that the witness’s testimony is truthful and cannot be contradicted, he tries not to ask further as this may strengthen the testimony and impact his own version or theory.