He may only ask direct questions of any witness: “Jennifer, how long have you known the defendant?” or “Jennifer, how did you meet the defendant?” When a prosecutor is presenting a case, it is called the case-in-chief. On cross-examination: As mentioned above, leading questions are used to discredit a witness. So when are leading questions allowed? There are two primary times leading questions can be employed: Leading questions can often make testimony sound dramatic and in fact, are often used to make a witness sound non-credible and put them on the defensive: “You’ve never liked the defendant, have you Jennifer?” In this case, the proper way to ask Jennifer for the information needed would have been, “Has the defendant been stalking you?” If Jennifer answered yes, the prosecutor can then ask how long the behavior has been happening (months and months).
Leading questions are not allowed on direct examination-meaning that in most cases, a prosecutor cannot ask them. The kind of question Jennifer was asked is called a “leading” question. While this makes for good television drama, it is not allowed in real-life and a good defense attorney would shout, “Objection!” before Jennifer gets a change to answer. To drive home a point, he asks, “Jennifer, isn’t it true that the defendant had been stalking you for months?” “Yes,” she yells, “Months and months!” The victim is testifying and the prosecutor is asking her questions.
#Law leading questions movie
Use of this website is subject to Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.Most of us have seen some sort of crime show or movie that portrays a trial taking place in a courtroom. Programming, HTML, indexing and presentation is copyright (C) 1995-2013 Hypertext Index Tracking Systems, LLC * All Rights Reserved.
#Law leading questions update
No-one associated with this website is an attorney and no attorney is entering into any kind of attorney-client relationship with you.Īlthough the publishers of this website update this information regularly the information published here may not be complete or accurate.Ĭontent of the County Judges Benchbook is copyright (c) 2013 Texas Association of Counties - All Rights Reserverd.Īll other intellectual property including but not limited to As with any research tool, should be double checked against relevant statutes,Ĭase law, attorney general opinions and advice of legal counsel e.g., your county attorney.Įach public officer is responsible for determining duties of the office or position held.Īny question regarding your duties should be directed to competent legal counsel for a written opinion. It is provided without warranty of any kind. THIS WEBSITE IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE ADVICE OF AN ATTORNEY.
(512) PROVIDED ON THIS WEBSITE IS A RESEARCH TOOL AND NOT THE COUNSEL OF AN ATTORNEY. If you have any questions please contact TAC for assistance. The County Judges Benchbook is provided here as an informational research tool only and is NOT a substitute for legal counsel. The goal of the Texas Association of Counties County Judges Education Advisory Committee is to develop a progressive judicial education curriculum for constitutional county judges and court personnel designed for the unique needs of new judges, experienced judges, court personnel and county judges with limited judicial responsibilities. The Texas Association of Counties County Judges Education Advisory Committee has provided basic support services for producing judicial education programs for constitutional county judges and court personnel since 1984. Objecting to Leading Questions (87) Previous Leading questions are allowed on cross-examination because, without leading questions, a party may not be able to get any information from a witness who is unfriendly to that party. Leading questions are also ordinarily allowed on cross-examination, that is, when one party is questioning the other party's witness. The court may also allow a party to use leading questions when questioning a hostile witness, that is, a witness who is not necessarily friendly to the questioner, but who has been called by the party to help establish some element of the case. Specific provisions of this law include: making sure questions are stated in language appropriate for the age of the child allowing a support person (or support animal) to be present with the child and limiting the duration and timing of the child's testimony. requires judges in criminal prosecutions to minimize the possibility of traumatizing a child witness. "What was the weather on the night of January 25?" is not a leading question. For example, "Was it cold and snowy on the night of January 25?" is a leading question. Definition (80)Ī leading question is a question that suggests the answer.
0 kommentar(er)
