Questions tagged [witnesses]
People who were at or near the scene of an event at the relevant time, and in a position to testify as to what happened.
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Is a judge's completely arbitrary determination of credibilty subject to appeal?
If a United States Federal judge credits critical testimony without fully explaining him or herself, is it subject to appeal?
For example, suppose a judge awards an amount to the winning party because ...
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What is the law relating to paying witnesses?
My understanding is that there are two types of witness, Expert and Material. These have similarities and differences. One similarity is that both can be compelled to answer questions in court in ...
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What would happen if one side in a trial called the other side's sole attorney to the stand?
Would they have to cross-examine themselves, and if so, how?
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Are there lines of reasoning that can only be introduced into a case via an expert witness?
Say some technical question is important to a court case.
One side brings in an expert witness on the subject to testify that the answer is in fact A in their expert opinion.
Is the other side allowed ...
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Refusing to swear the oath by asking for a lawyer
Let's say a witness is called to the stand. One who has been prepped by whichever attorney called them. When asked if they swear to tell the truth they ask for a lawyer. What happens next?
I know ...
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Treatment of lying/exaggerating witnesses
So I'm asking this in the setting of a criminal trial, but I'd also be interested to hear about the treatment of the same aspect in a civil trial.
Assume Danny (D) finds himself accused of some ...
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Is it possible for a witness to backtrack and claim that their previous statements were wrong because they misremembered?
One of the Youtube channels I'm following is running a series of videos about an ongoing lawsuit (within reason, of course). The latest video has an interesting point that got me wondering.
Suppose ...
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What does "credible" mean?
Looking at the recently delivered findings and conclusions in Brandt et al. v. Rutledge et al., full text here. On pp. 56-57 of the PDF, one of the expert witnesses is discussed (emphasis added):
Dr. ...
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Calling a judge as a witness in a case that the judge is presiding over?
I want to pose a question on the limits of a defendant's right to call people to testify at trial.
Let's assume that a judge is conducting a trial (the sort of trial is irrelevant - it could be ...
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A witness (former gov't agent) knows top secret USA information. Can a court compel them to reveal the informaton?
A former US federal government employee knows information that was classified as top secret by the federal government. This information is relevant to a case. They were called to testify before the ...
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Is a witness on the stand allowed to take notes?
I have read that witnesses in a court are allowed to refer to notes when they are testifying, but, without regard as to why they might feel a need to, are they allowed to take notes while they are ...
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What remedies can a witness use to satisfy the "all the truth" portion of their oath?
Hypothetical:
A witness took an oath to tell the whole truth. The adversarial cross-examiner abruptly cuts off the witness's testimony in the middle of a statement, leaving the train of thought ...
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Judge witnesses the whole crime
What happens if the judge by some chance witnesses the crime? Has this ever happened?
Or is the judge always picked in such a way that they could never be a witness? (Out of fears of bias or whatever)...
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Can peer/societal-pressure count as witness intimidation?
Inspired by Yakuza: Lost Judgement.
Briana the boss committed a crime, and only Walter the worker directly witnessed it. Briana is well-loved in society (e.g. very sociable and nice to everyone, with ...
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Is character assassination of witnesses allowed?
Say that one side of a trial brings a witness Walter onto the stand. If the other side doesn't like Walter's testimony (and wants the jury to not take it seriously), are they allowed to engage in ...
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