During a trial there are many different roles to be played within the court. A few of these roles consist of an opening statement, direct examination, cross examination, and a closing argument. While all of these roles are important, some might say that direct examination is the most crucial to the trial. Direct examiners play a significant role in the court because they bear the burden of proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Their job is to persuade the jury using the questions they ask the witnesses. They get to decide what parts of the story to tell, how they want to tell them, and when they want to tell them. The questions that they choose to ask the witnesses help make the facts of the case establish a foundation for their argument.
…show more content…
They plan what topics they are going to cover during the trial starting with general information and narrowing it down to specific details as the trial proceeds. It is to the direct examiners advantage if they consider what order to present their witnesses to the jury. Usually they are presented in chronological order from the beginning of the event to the end. However, topical use of witnesses is a common alternative (Moses). In this alternative witnesses would be presented to discuss certain topics such as the discovery of the body, the cause of death, when DNA evidence was found, and so on. The order is chosen in an order which the examiner deems most persuasive. The examiner also gets to decide when to present their “power” witness, first, middle or last. Sometimes they save the best for last as to avoid boredom and repetition (Moses). Direct examiners also consider time of day in which they present what witness. The jury’s attention tends to be less alert right before and after …show more content…
For example, the examiner should avoid asking questions that can be easily disputed, don’t make sense, or statements that can be impeached or open doors to inadmissible evidence (Moses). Questions like these will blur the mental picture that you are trying to paint for the jury. The direct examiner should also avoid asking leading questions that might lead the jury to believe you are suggesting the answer to the witness. Leading questions are generally not persuasive because they lead the witness almost directly to the answer, usually either a simple “yes”, or “no”. Generally, close-ended questions are only encouraged when refreshing a witness’s memory, examining a person of age or infancy, or when trying to cover undisputed facts. An example would look like this, “Is it true that you saw John waiting across the street before his wife came home?” (How Courts Work). Because this information did not come from the witness himself, it makes the information less believable in the jury’s
They plan what topics they are going to cover during the trial starting with general information and narrowing it down to specific details as the trial proceeds. It is to the direct examiners advantage if they consider what order to present their witnesses to the jury. Usually they are presented in chronological order from the beginning of the event to the end. However, topical use of witnesses is a common alternative (Moses). In this alternative witnesses would be presented to discuss certain topics such as the discovery of the body, the cause of death, when DNA evidence was found, and so on. The order is chosen in an order which the examiner deems most persuasive. The examiner also gets to decide when to present their “power” witness, first, middle or last. Sometimes they save the best for last as to avoid boredom and repetition (Moses). Direct examiners also consider time of day in which they present what witness. The jury’s attention tends to be less alert right before and after …show more content…
For example, the examiner should avoid asking questions that can be easily disputed, don’t make sense, or statements that can be impeached or open doors to inadmissible evidence (Moses). Questions like these will blur the mental picture that you are trying to paint for the jury. The direct examiner should also avoid asking leading questions that might lead the jury to believe you are suggesting the answer to the witness. Leading questions are generally not persuasive because they lead the witness almost directly to the answer, usually either a simple “yes”, or “no”. Generally, close-ended questions are only encouraged when refreshing a witness’s memory, examining a person of age or infancy, or when trying to cover undisputed facts. An example would look like this, “Is it true that you saw John waiting across the street before his wife came home?” (How Courts Work). Because this information did not come from the witness himself, it makes the information less believable in the jury’s