Cross Examination Street Law Mock Trial Prep Differences
- Slides: 8
Cross Examination { Street Law - Mock Trial Prep
Differences Between Direct and Cross Examination Direct examination uses open-ended questions that allow the witness to tell his story Cross examination uses leading questions (closedended questions) designed to elicit yes or no answers. The attorney takes a back seat and lets the witness tell the story in direct The attorney takes center stage and tells the story in cross examination by eliciting the desire “yes/no” response from the witness
Examples of Leading Questions “You were alone in the room? ” “No one else was present when the gun was fired? ” “He walked right by you but you didn’t see him? ” “Your second statement contradicted your first statement? ” “You needed money for your daughter’s operation? ”
Cross Examination Lecture
Cross Examination Example Video https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=jw e. JYTCe 4 a 8
What do you think? What did you notice was different from the rules of direct examination? What did the attorney do well? What did the attorney struggle with? What about the witness? Was this a hostile witness? Were they helpful? How so?
Tommorow’s Activity We are going to practice cross examining witnesses. Break up into four groups (numbering off 1 -4) Group 1: Story A Pig 1 Group 2: Story B Pig 2 Group 3: Story C Pig 3 Group 4: Story D Pig 4
Tomorrow’s Activity Continued Each group is going to present to the class the story they have been assigned. All of the important information on the sheet needs to be mentioned. This will be done by choosing someone in the group to play the assigned character from the story and asking them questions about what happened. HOWEVER, the character has been cursed with a spell that only allows them to say “yes” or “no”. So you must use the techniques of effective cross examination to tell an interesting story through questions that must be answered with a yes or no.
