If you’ve seen any major cases on the news in recent months, such as the Depp v. Heard trial, then you’ve likely seen many witnesses on the stand being questioned by attorneys. While this may appear to be a simple question-and-answer session, it is a little more complicated than that. There are particular rules that attorneys, as well as witnesses, must abide by throughout questioning.
Witness testimony can be broken down into four distinct sections: direct examination, cross-examination, redirect examination, and recross-examination. For this blog, we’ll take a deep dive into just the first two sections.
Direct Examination
Direct examination is conducted by the side that called the witness. Here, the attorney is permitted to only ask open-ended questions that allow the witness to tell their story in a free manner (provided that the witness stays within the confines of the question). Asking leading questions, which are questions that imply an answer, are generally not permitted. Some exceptions to this are when such a question is required to develop the testimony or if the witness is hostile or an adverse party (see Florida statute 90.612). Examples of these types of witnesses would be the opposing party of the case or someone being belligerent during their testimony. Below is a brief example of the typical direct examination in a hypothetical case of robbery:
Attorney: What happened on the night of the incident?
Witness: I was withdrawing money when I felt a knife against my back and a voice demanded I hand over my wallet.
Attorney: Could you identify the voice?
Witness: I didn’t recognize it, but I remember it being a man’s voice.
Attorney: What happened next?
Witness: I fished out my wallet, handed to him, and he got in his car and drove off.
Attorney: Did you see the car itself?
Witness: Yes.
Attorney: Which way was the car facing when you saw it?
Witness: The rear was facing toward me.
Attorney: Did you see the license plate?
Witness: Yes.
Attorney: Do you remember what it said?
Witness: Yes, it read ABC 123.
Attorney: No further questions.
As you can see, the questions are very open ended, allowing the witness to answer in as much detail as they require to share their story. The attorney spurred the witness to explain how he was robbed from behind and observed the defendant allegedly get into his vehicle and drive off. Additionally, he explained that he both saw and remembered the license plate number, which further bolsters the questioning attorney’s case.
Cross-Examination
After the direct examination concludes, the opposing side has the opportunity to cross-examine, although they may choose not to. The purpose of the cross-examination is to poke holes in and cast doubt on the witness’s testimony. To achieve such a goal, the questioning attorney is permitted to ask leading questions, so that they can guide the examination. In other words, the witness is the star of a direct examination while the attorney is the star of the cross-examination. The cross-examination is also limited to the scope of what the witness testified on. Using the same hypothetical from before, you can see an example of what the cross-examination could look like:
Opposing Attorney: According to your deposition, the alleged incident took place at 12 AM. Is that correct?
Witness: Yes.
Opposing Attorney: And you were standing outside the ATM of your bank, isn’t that right?
Witness: Yes.
Opposing Attorney: *showing photograph* What is this?
Witness: A photo of an ATM.
Opposing Attorney: Is this the ATM you used that night?
Witness: Yes.
Opposing Attorney: Would you say this is an accurate depiction of how that ATM appeared the night of the alleged incident?
Witness: Yes.
Opposing Attorney: There was a broken lightbulb above the machine, wasn’t there?
Witness: I think so, yeah.
Opposing Attorney: And that was the only light on the ATM?
Witness: Yes.
Opposing Attorney: Now, when you turned around and observed the vehicle the defendant allegedly drove off in, you were still standing by the ATM, correct?
Witness: Yes.
Opposing Attorney: And the ATM was directly behind you?
Witness: Yes.
Opposing Attorney: No further questions.
As you can see, the questioning attorney took the testimony by the reigns and guided the witness down his or her desired path; in this case, the attorney’s goal was to cast doubt on the witness’s testimony by pointing out several unfavorable factors. The two main factors the attorney focused in on are the time of day and the lack of lighting at the scene, which would make a jury think twice about this witness’s reliability.
Keep an eye out for our next blog, where we’ll take a look at redirect and recross-examination. If you have a case in Florida that you think will go to trial, you will need an experienced defense attorney who is well-versed in different strategies of direct and cross-examination. Call Hendry & Parker, P.A, in downtown Dunedin, at 727-205-5555 today for a free consultation.