Recommended Citation

Maureen A. Howard, Mastering Foolproof Witness Control on Cross-Examination, Oct. 2010 De Novo 9 (2010), https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-articles/521

Authors

Maureen A. Howard, University of Washington School of Law

Mastering Foolproof Witness Control on Cross-Examination

Publication Title

De Novo

Document Type

Article

Abstract

In the wonderfully entertaining and instructive video, The Ten Commandments of Cross-Examination, the late Irving Younger offered this appraisal of lawyers’ ability to conduct cross-exam: “Most lawyers do it badly all the time, no lawyer does it well all the time, and no lawyer in the early stages of his career does it well at all.” Happily, we’ve come a long way since Younger’s grim 1975 assessment, due to the instruction of maestros like Younger, Terrence McCarthy (McCarthy on Cross-Examination), and Larry Pozner and Roger Dodd (Cross-Examination: Science and Techniques). All too often, however, lawyers still find themselves in trouble on cross-examination, sparring with an out-of-control witness. There is, however, a simple system for maintaining witness control on cross-exam, and there are some easy techniques for regaining control if things go awry.