Take the Witness: The Experts Speak on Cross-Examination
Lawrence W. Newman and Rikki Klieman, Editors
Price: $95.00 600 pages.
1 Hardcover Volume. Published January 2006.
ISBN-13: 978-1-929446-71-1
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| Take the Witness: The Experts Speak on Cross Examination $95.00 |
Excerpt of Chapter 26, "Cross Until They Drop," by Robert Simels
The general notion, seemingly accepted by most attorneys, is that like a surgeon, a good cross-examiner will get in and out as quickly as possible. The thinking is that there are hard and fast rules—ask questions that can only elicit the response you want— don’t give the witness a chance to explain or re-state his direct testimony.
While there may be some truth in that axiom, particularly when it comes to a non-interested witness who has nothing to gain or lose by telling the truth, those witnesses are few and far between.
By contrast, my approach to a witness is that you can, and should, ask questions that require the witness to offer an explanation, and that you should keep a witness on the stand as long as possible. In permitting a witness to be expansive, you need to listen carefully. In most explanations there is a new twist of the facts, or an effort to improve upon the facts. As you highlight those new wrinkles you are discrediting the witness. Done over an extended period of time, the jury will be able to appreciate that the witness is not credible. Attempt to accomplish a short cross-examination and the jury will have little recollection of the person. You need to make them remember the witness distinctly, which can only occur if they get to see the witness for an extended period.
To accomplish this task you must have a masterful understanding of the facts and have a game plan. It is essential that you know the entire case and how each witness interrelates to the other. Setting up inconsistencies among witnesses is obviously significant. To be succinct every witness can be your witness....
INTRODUCTION
John M. Walker, Jr., Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
PART ONE
SETTINGS: NOT YOUR USUAL COURTROOM
Chapter 1
Cross-Examination of a Prosecution
Witness in an Insanity Case
By J.W. Carney, Jr.
Chapter 2
Cross-Examination in a Deposition
By Jacalyn F. Barnett
Chapter 3
Cross-Examination in International Arbitration
By Lawrence W. Newman
Chapter 4
Cross-Examination of Experts in Tax
Court Cases
By Marc M. Levey
Chapter 5
Cross-Examining a Minister of
the Crown
By Gilbert Gray, Q.C.
Part Two
Coping with Witnesses we Fear
Chapter 6
Cross-Examining the Eyewitness
By James M. Doyle
Chapter 7
Cross-Examining the Well-
Prepared Witness
By David M. Dorsen
Chapter 8
The Art and Instincts of Cross-
examining Police Officers,
FBI Agents and Other
Law Enforcers
By Paul Batista
Chapter 9
"Turning" the Prosecution
Witness: Making the Witness
Your Own
By Steven Sadow
Chapter 10
Cross-Examining a Cooperating
Witness in a White Collar Case
By Elkan Abramowitz
Chapter 11
Reflections on Cross-Examining
Accomplice Witnesses
By Gary P. Naftalis
Chapter 12
Cross-Examining a Tape Recording
By Benjamin Brafman
Chapter 13
Examining a Sympathetic Victim:
The Louima Case
By Joseph Tacopina
Chapter 14
Ups and Downs in Cross-Examining
Celebrity Character Witnesses
By Michael Armstrong
Chapter 15
Cross-Examining the Adverse Party
as a Hostile Witness
By Sheldon H. Elsen
Chapter 16
Cross-Examining the Professional
Expert
By James D. Zirin
Chapter 17
Cross-Examining Lawyers and
Other Professionals in
Criminal Cases
By John R. Wing
Chapter 18
Cross-Examining a Crucial
Psychologist in a
Star-Studded Trial
By Gerald Walpin
Chapter 19
Cross-Examination Through
the Eyes of the Camera
By Rikki Klieman
Chapter 20
Dueling Experts in the Ted
Binion Murder Case: State of
Nevada v. Richard Tabish
and Sandra Murphy
By David Roger and David Wall
PART THREE
TECHNIQUES: TRICKERY OR SKILL?
Chapter 21
The Importance of Memory in
Cross-Examination
By F. Lee Bailey
Chapter 22
The Psychology of Cross-
Examination
By Gerald L. Shargel
Chapter 23
Bringing Out What They
Left Out
By Peter Fleming
Chapter 24
Communication in Cross-
Examination
By Albert J. Kreiger
Chapter 25
Avoiding Seven Deadly Sins of
Cross-Examination (and other
musings of a courtroom
street-fighter)
By Lawrence Hochheiser
Chapter 26
Cross Until They Drop
By Robert Simels
Chapter 27
Risky Business!
By Mickey Sherman
Chapter 28
Cross-Examination and the Jury
By Edward Hayes
CHAPTER 29
What to Exploit Now, and What
to Save For Summation
Paul K. Rooney