2 05, 2012

HONG KONG CROSS-EXAMINATION

By |May 2nd, 2012|Concession-Seeking Cross, Hong Kong Cross-Examination, Your Chance to Testify|1 Comment

A Barrister at WorkThe day before yesterday, I was in Hong Kong. I broke away from my travel group to make a visit to the High Court. What started as a tourist’s brief detour ended up giving me opportunities to watch a skilled Barrister’s cross-examination and to visit with that Barrister.A high profile murder trial [...]

15 04, 2012

TRUISMS FOR CROSS-EXAMINATION

By |April 15th, 2012|Concession-Seeking Cross, Don'ts for Cross-Examination, Impeachment|0 Comments

David Paul Jones’s Rules of Cross-Examination (Jones was a British barrister who wrote a century and a half ago)1. Except in indifferent matters, never take your eye from that of the witness; this is a channel of communication from mind to mind, the loss of which nothing can compensate. Truth, falsehood, hatred, anger, scorn, despair, [...]

3 02, 2012

CROSS-EXAMINATION IMPEACHMENT WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

By |February 3rd, 2012|Concession-Seeking Cross, Contradiction Technique of Cross-Examination, Impeachment, Social Media|0 Comments

Concession-Seeking and Impeachment with Facebook, MySpace, Google+ and Other Social Media Social media can provide valuable ammunition for concession-seeking cross-examination and the contradiction technique explained in Cross-Examination Handbook. With thanks to Eric Goldman who has followed the appellate decisions around the country that have considered impeachment with information gathered from social media. The following are [...]

14 11, 2011

LESSONS FROM MICHAEL JACKSON’S DOCTOR TRIAL

By |November 14th, 2011|Concession-Seeking Cross, Expert Witness|2 Comments

Build Your Case on Cross-ExaminationIn the involuntary manslaughter trial of Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s doctor, the defense called Dr. Paul White to testify, among other things, that Jackson self medicated with his own stash of propofol thereby causing his own death. Prosecutor David Walgren (on right in picture) relied on concession-seeking cross-examination to build his [...]

12 10, 2011

KNOWING WHEN TO BREAK THE RULES OF CROSS-EXAMINATION

By |October 12th, 2011|Concession-Seeking Cross, Don'ts for Cross-Examination, Irving Younger, Storytelling Cross|0 Comments

A Shot-in-the-Dark You could call it a locked-room murder but not a locked-room mystery. The murderers were locked in the room with their victim. Two inmates contrived to get themselves locked into the same cell with another inmate and proceeded to strangle him with a garrote. When a correctional officer came down the row of [...]

27 06, 2011

BLAGOJEVICH – THE PROVEN LIAR – GUILTY OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION

By |June 27th, 2011|Concession-Seeking Cross, Rod Blagojevich, Tips on Cross|5 Comments

Concession-Seeking Cross-Examination of BlagojevichFormer Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted of 17 of 20 public corruption counts. The ten wire fraud counts carry maximum penalties of 20 years each. The convictions can be attributed to an effective cross-examination by Assistant United States Attorney Reid Schar.Assistant United States Attorney Schar had a theme for his cross-examination. [...]

20 05, 2011

INTERPLAY BETWEEN TAKING A DEPOSITION AND CROSS-EXAMINATION

By |May 20th, 2011|Bill Gates, Concession-Seeking Cross, David Boies, Deposition and Cross, Storytelling Cross, Tips on Cross, Your Chance to Testify|1 Comment

David Boies on Cross-Examination and Depositions with the Microsoft Antitrust Case Illustration Deposition Purposes and Techniques David Boies’ performance in taking Bill Gates’s deposition in Department of Justice’s Sherman Antitrust case against Microsoft is an excellent illustration of how to focus on the purposes of the deposition and by doing so, select the right techniques. [...]

11 03, 2011

QUINTILIAN’S CROSS-EXAMINATION TIPS

By |March 11th, 2011|Adverse Witness, Concession-Seeking Cross, Quintilian|0 Comments

Concession-Seeking Cross is Nothing NewIn Ancient Rome gentlemen were expected to know how to lead an army or to try a case. All young men of substance received training in trial advocacy, and there were a number of trial advocacy manuals available for study. Most of those works have disappeared, but a few survive. Aristotle’s [...]

3 03, 2011

YOU KNOW YOUR CROSS-EXAMINATION WAS EFFECTIVE WHEN . . .

By |March 3rd, 2011|Bench Trial Cross, Books on Cross, Concession-Seeking Cross, Deposition and Cross, Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover, Tips on Cross|1 Comment

The Judge Takes Over – Part 2 of Cross-Examination in the Evolution and Creationism Trials This is the second discussion of the Dover trial in which the parents of children in the Dover, Pennsylvania school district sued to prevent the school board from introducing creationism into the curriculum under the guise of intelligent design. For [...]

9 02, 2011

CROSS-EXAMINATIONS IN THE EVOLUTION AND CREATIONISM TRIALS

By |February 9th, 2011|Books on Cross, Concession-Seeking Cross, Cross Handbook, Deposition and Cross, Dover Trial, Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover, Scopes Trial, Storytelling Cross, Tips on Cross, Your Chance to Testify|0 Comments

The Scopes and Dover TrialsCross-examination Handbook delves into the Scopes trial, focusing on Clarence Darrow’s examination of adverse witness William Jennings Bryan utilizing the reduction-to-the-absurd technique to defeat him. And, some say that the ordeal contributed to Bryan’s death five days after the trial.While the 1925 Scopes trial involved the prosecution of a football coach [...]

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