WITNESS TO A TRIAL TRIAL

A judge might allow this on the motion of an attorney, but almost all testimony is given in court.

If there are very special needs that you have, please contact the court in advance to make arrangements. There are elevators that serve the courtroom floor and ramps in other parts of the building. The courthouse is modern and is accessible to individuals with canes, crutches, or wheelchairs.

I donвЂ™t get around well because of my health. Courtrooms 204 (Retired Judge McBride) and 205 (Magistrates) are down a corridor to the left of the second floor main lobby. There are no courtrooms on the first floor (street level) where you enter the Courthouse. Because every citizen has a right to a fair trial, it is important to the overall justice system that witnesses appear in court.ДЄll the courtrooms are on the second floor of the Clermont County Courthouse. Having the testimony of witnesses in civil or criminal cases is vital to ensuring the constitutional right to a fair trial.

What Court Staff Can and Cannot Do For YouДЇREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT BEING A WITNESSД¬OURT HOURS OF OPERATION: 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, EXCEPT LEGAL HOLIDAYSДЄ witness is any individual who knows something, no matter how little, about the facts of a court case and can answer questions about those facts in court.

Also, you object and argue that opposing counsel hasnвЂ™t first tried to refresh the witnessвЂ™s recollection.Clermont Common Pleas Clermont Common Pleas The way you object is by explaining that just because the lawyer isnвЂ™t getting the answers he or she wants doesnвЂ™t make the witness hostile. If you are on the other side, they you should always object to leading questions, and object to the witness being declared hostile. However, it is always good to be prepared.

WITNESS TO A TRIAL TRIAL

They donвЂ™t often formally declare a witness вЂњhostile.вЂќ Having coached mock trial for 20 years, I donвЂ™t often see this come up too often in the scripts or packets of material that schools use. If a witness is uncooperative, judges tend to give a little more leeway with leading questions. In reality, the вЂњhostile witnessвЂќ idea is not necessarily all or nothing. Prosecutor: Well that is exactly what you told the police when they asked you about this the next day? Prosecutor: Sir, isnвЂ™t it true that when you brother arrived at your apartment that he had a ski mask? Judge: Permission to treat the witness as hostile is granted. The witness is avoiding answering the questions and is giving different answers then he gave to the police when he was first interviewed. Prosecutor: Your honor, the State requests permission to treat the witness as hostile. And he canвЂ™t ask a leading question because he called the brother to the stand. The prosecutor isnвЂ™t getting the answer he is looking for. I was kind of out of it when I wrote that statement, I donвЂ™t know. Prosecutor: Would it help to look at your statement again to refresh your recollection? Prosecutor: What did you tell the police? Witness: Like a hat? Yeah I think I remember something like that. Prosecutor: Anything to cover his head with? Witness: I donвЂ™t remember too well, it was last summer. Witness: What do you mean? He had pants and a shirt. Prosecutor: Any article of clothing that you remember? Witness: I donвЂ™t remember, it has been a while. Prosecutor: And did you notice anything unusual? Prosecutor: On that date, you brother arrived at you house that afternoon? After the robbery, the suspect shows up at his brotherвЂ™s house. LetвЂ™s say you are prosecuting a man for bank robbery. A hostile witness is a witness that you call to the stand, that doesnвЂ™t want to be there, and is avoiding answering questions, and so when you have him declared a вЂњhostile witnessвЂќ the judge will allow you to ask him leading questions. The вЂњhostile witnessвЂќ rule changes this up a bit. But when you are cross-examining a witness, you can ask leading questions. You should already know that when you are doing a direct examination (questioning your own witness) you canвЂ™t ask leading questions.

So since mock trial is intended to be fun, and certainly entertaining, I figured I would write a post about the subject.ДЇirst the basics. But the idea does have a sort of dramatic flair, so you often see people declared вЂњhostile witnessesвЂќ on T.V. The truth is that it is uncommon for a witness to be declared вЂњhostileвЂќ in the real world. And you probably noticed there is not a lot of materials on the subject online or examples on YouTube. How do you handle a hostile witness in a mock trial? How do you have a judge declare a witness вЂњhostileвЂќ? Well, you arrived on my blog because you were searching online.

Witness to a trial