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but let's get started first we're talking about that preparing awareness part okay I want to make sure that I prepare my witness and I'm talking about that cross-examination part I have to explain it to a witness I even do this with my expert witnesses that so-called do this for a living I gotta get them oriented with the process of witness examination I've talked before in other lectures about how this trial is the disjointed process of information it's a lot easier to stand up and deliver a speech here's topic a hears topic B here's topic see they all fold in sequentially and then we get to the conclusion another go defined unfortunately trial and the process of trial doesn't come out like that it comes out all of the jacked up it comes out witness by witness and then even worse within each witness's testimony direct my side cross your side redirect my side again imagine being people that are unfamiliar with the process like jurors trying to receive information in this disjointed jacked up web well as much as it's important for you to clarify that injury addresses like opening statement and closing argument right I have to make sure that my witness is the ones I'm preparing no the process of trial and know how it comes out I knew something like this well I actually tell them first is the direct examination that's our dance right now that's something you should have very little worry about why we're gonna go over every drop of it you're gonna know the questions you're gonna know the areas of inquiry you're gonna know we're gonna go over your answers you're gonna tell me your back I'm gonna tell you some of the problems how we can think about testifying I'm going to go through that ad nauseam we are going to cover our script and our play together we're gonna put it on you're gonna testify you're going to talk to the jury we are going to do that and if you think about it what we handle a direct examination when I present my witness is really let's determine by the rules of evidence and they can reject to certain questions but the overall scope the overall topic with topics that I can cover in direct exam is really dictated by two things and that's relevance it has to have something that moves the ball forward and this witness's personal knowledge now the course personal knowledge is something that's usually for the recipient witness that's usually for the fact witness not an expert but if you think about it what we can find the direct examination is that the facts have to do with something it has to be relevant has to move the ball in some way shape or form and this witness has to have some personal knowledge but for an expert and the expert it actually is more confining because they have to have told us and some type of disclosure before so they need to have to know about it personal knowledge or they have to have turned it over and some type of disclosure pretrial that's what defines our direct examination and I tell my witness we're gonna go through every drop of it I also tell them about the mechanisms that we talk about in other videos like refreshing recollection if you forget something or you drop something here's the process by which we can get that back because you've said it before so I give them comfort level of knowing here's what's coming and here's how we can get at things even if you should forget that's direct examination I then have to have to explain to them what's coming my way of cross examination I like to hold exactly separate sessions about cross-examination if I'm gonna meet with you on Tuesday and Thursday I want to make sure that Tuesday we're covering the director we're doing our script and we're doing our question-and-answer again on Thursday I'm going to show up in a different character I'm going to show up playing the part of the opposing attorney cross-examining you I'm gonna show you what crosses like you do a disservice to your witness if you don't show them the difference between a leading question and or open-ended question you do a disservice if you don't show them the attitude they the shortness of the questions the confining nature of the questions essentially the unfair or potentially unfair process that is cross examination if the first time that they hear a batch of leading questions watched at them is that trial that you have failed that witness so one of the things that I want to do is I'm going to talk to them about cross examination and why it's different what defines what goes into cross examination it's very simple the scope of what you're covered in direct the topics that you covered indirectly you've covered ABC indirect ABC topics are in bombs and in the box for your cross-examination and then there's one important matter that is in addition to ABC all the time and that's credibility credibility is always within the scope if someone came into court put their hand up in the air swear to tell the truth then everything that comes out of their mouth right I want to be the truth every issue that bears on their credibility I am able to bring up in cross-examination so the way I like to say it is what defines what can go on across examination is everything we covered indirect and everything that bears on your credibility the witness has to know that because you will get the witness and I've gotten this witness before when you get on the stand and get up all the way to get lunch they come near the goat hell was that they started asking me about the time I live in an application she started asking me about a prior conviction they started asking me about who my brother wasn't what was the relation to that's the case guess what all bears on credibility all well within mouths if I didn't prepare you that that stuff was coming then I failed you as the witness preparing preparing for direct preparing for cross then I'm also going to tell them what's coming I'm gonna tell them about redirect and essentially the way I waited the but redirect in further narrows it further funnels if I'm cross examination of among a B C and D and credibility right if they only covered it they didn't go into anything on credibility they didn't go into anything on B C or D they only covered a that is the only thing available to you in redirect it's only a narrow subset of what was covered in the examination before so what I'm going to look at it is the scope of what happened on cross examination and it's also designed not to repeat but to repair I don't get to just get the last word I'll redirect that means I get to say all my grid points again just more recently no you don't you don't get to just say it again because you have the ability to go after you have to have it what repairs or it clarifies something that came up in cross examination and we'll talk about a little later and we'll also do a demonstration if there's also a recross and this is the best way I will tell you is this is a function of the court most likely some time sports like three crosses sometimes courts do not like Greek crosses but it's the same thing it still funnels it's still within the scope most of the time will redirect the judge is going to look at you after cross-examination and they're gonna say counsel do you have any redirect there's actually a question they actually remind you they actually wake you up in the middle of trial and say do you have any questions for redirect and if you do you go if not you say no I don't witness is dismissed for recross most often even if a judge is inclined to permit it they ain't going to be asking can this witness be excused is the one the word that's gonna come from the judge you may have to in to intercede and say Your Honor may I have a question on recross something that came up in light of the redirect and that's what it has to be it's not you we came across if you coming up with something in the light of what happened so you