![]() Prosecutor: "You told your boss that you hate your wife, isn't that right?" For example, imagine this exchange in the courtroom: I would add that in case (2) where a questioner tries to paint a false scenario, it is a risky move, because it opens the door for the witness to say whatever they want. Any time a question "paints a picture" or establishes something hypothetical and simply asks the witness to agree with the fantasy scenario, the witness can refuse to answer, or can answer with a counter scenario which they consider to be more accurate. For example, if the question, "You told your boss that you hated your wife, isn't that right?" In this case the witness can answer, "I reject the question, the prosecutor is putting words in my mouth." or can say "I resent the implication." or "That does not accurately reflect what happened." or whatever. If the question is hypothetical or suppositional, then the witness can reject the question. If the witness tries to explain why he went to the factory, or something, then he can be cut off, because he is being unresponsive. If the questioner asks a purely factual question, like "Did you go to the factory on that Tuesday?" then a yes-no answer can be compelled. Litigators will attempt to bully a witness into certain types of answers, but this is not "illegal" nor is it "illegal" for witnesses to craft their answers as they like.Īs for yes-no bullying there are two general cases: In general, a witness can answer a question however they want as long as it is responsive to the question. The customs and practices of civil procedure are established by legal precedent, not laws made by legislatures. ![]() This is a question of civil procedure more so than law. If you understand that, you can inform the judge that it is impossible for you to answer the question (though typically witnesses do not understand about "presuppositions"). A witness may detect that a question has a false presupposition ("Did you use the Mark 6 Toxotron to prepare your subjective analysis?" – "No" is perjury, and "Yes" testifies that the analysis is subjective). Although a judge is unlikely to slap a witness for saying more than "Yes" or "No" in that circumstance, you can also refuse to testify on 5th Amendment grounds (any answer, under the circumstance, could be used as evidence against you in a perjury trial – this has happened, probably more than once). You may state that you don't understand the question, which can provide an opportunity for elaboration. The attorney who called you to testify is not your attorney, and has no obligation to protect you from such tricky questions. It is important to not give the wrong answer, since perjury is a serious crime, so it is important that a witness be allowed to give an unambiguously true answer. In the above question, "Yes" could mean "Yes, that is correct" or "Yes, I have used is" likewise, "No" could mean "No, that is not correct, I have used it" vs. There may be something in the form of a question that makes it impossible to answer. On redirect (if the attorney is on top of things) you can be asked "Why have you not used the Mark 4 Toxotron?". ![]() For instance, opposing counsel may ask "You have never used the Mark 4 Toxotron in your life, is that correct?", and you could want to answer "No, because it is well-known that the Mark 4 Toxotron is unreliable, so we use the Mark 6 Toxotron", but if you're limited to "yes" and "no", the answer "No" might make you look like an inexperienced noob. The ABA describes "Qualities of a good cross-examination", which encourages questions answered "no". There are a number of manipulative things that an attorney can do (on cross-examination, to an opposing witness): badgering, leading, and limiting testimony to yes-no responses.
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