Emiiily
Dec 20, 2007
Writing Feedback / The start of a witness report/assignment for law (high school level) [2]
Please Testify
A witness can be universally defined as a person who obtains firsthand knowledge about a crime or dramatic event. From either seeing, touching, hearing, or smelling and can also testify important aspects of the crime or event in trial. It is apparent by this definition the role of a witness is crucial for any case, as along as there is relevance within their statements they can contribute substantially towards the justice within the case. The role of a witness is a combination many factors one of them being their use of memory. When remembering the sequence of events, recalling all dates, details, descriptions, times, actions, gestures and exact words used. The Credibility of a witness is beneficial towards legal cases because this enhances the trustworthiness within their testimony and can also increase the persuasiveness of the jury. Often times the amount of credibility the witness retains is more critical than the content of their testimony especially when it is significantly exaggerated. This effect helps when jury does not understand the contents or care much about the case itself. A second factor is the composure of the witness in the court room including a smooth speech, confidence in delivery, proper amount of eye contact, excellent dictation and sentence structure. This criterion contributes towards a positive impression left on the jury. On the other hand when this is not achieved less convincing behaviour will cause the jury to suspect the information is invalid such as slow speech, disorganized thoughts, incomplete or missing information and no eye contact. When the plaintiff begins the trial by calling the witnesses they start the primary questioning which is known as direct examination. The purpose of this is to establish the facts which support the plaintiff case in the witness's testimony. When being directly examined the attorney should not ask any leading questions (suggests or prompts the witness to reply with a specific response). As a witness they can asked to identify evidence pertaining directly to the case such as documents or photographs. However no judgment or conclusions can be draw from the evidence unless the witness is a qualified expert. Annoying and repetitive questions may or may not be prohibited due to the judge's discretion. As well as the grants and overruling of questions which can affect the answers the witness is able to give towards the case. Cross examination occurs after the plaintiff attorney has completed with their line of questioning the defendant's is given the opportunity to question the witness. It is during this process that the attorney will attempt to undermine the witness's credibility. Asking additional questions and getting clarification while making the witness appear unreliable, prejudiced or even biased is the central goal of the defendant's attorney.
Please Testify
A witness can be universally defined as a person who obtains firsthand knowledge about a crime or dramatic event. From either seeing, touching, hearing, or smelling and can also testify important aspects of the crime or event in trial. It is apparent by this definition the role of a witness is crucial for any case, as along as there is relevance within their statements they can contribute substantially towards the justice within the case. The role of a witness is a combination many factors one of them being their use of memory. When remembering the sequence of events, recalling all dates, details, descriptions, times, actions, gestures and exact words used. The Credibility of a witness is beneficial towards legal cases because this enhances the trustworthiness within their testimony and can also increase the persuasiveness of the jury. Often times the amount of credibility the witness retains is more critical than the content of their testimony especially when it is significantly exaggerated. This effect helps when jury does not understand the contents or care much about the case itself. A second factor is the composure of the witness in the court room including a smooth speech, confidence in delivery, proper amount of eye contact, excellent dictation and sentence structure. This criterion contributes towards a positive impression left on the jury. On the other hand when this is not achieved less convincing behaviour will cause the jury to suspect the information is invalid such as slow speech, disorganized thoughts, incomplete or missing information and no eye contact. When the plaintiff begins the trial by calling the witnesses they start the primary questioning which is known as direct examination. The purpose of this is to establish the facts which support the plaintiff case in the witness's testimony. When being directly examined the attorney should not ask any leading questions (suggests or prompts the witness to reply with a specific response). As a witness they can asked to identify evidence pertaining directly to the case such as documents or photographs. However no judgment or conclusions can be draw from the evidence unless the witness is a qualified expert. Annoying and repetitive questions may or may not be prohibited due to the judge's discretion. As well as the grants and overruling of questions which can affect the answers the witness is able to give towards the case. Cross examination occurs after the plaintiff attorney has completed with their line of questioning the defendant's is given the opportunity to question the witness. It is during this process that the attorney will attempt to undermine the witness's credibility. Asking additional questions and getting clarification while making the witness appear unreliable, prejudiced or even biased is the central goal of the defendant's attorney.
