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A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jury, before an administrative tribunal, before a deposition officer, or in a variety of other legal proceedings. A subpoena is a legal document that commands a person to appear at a proceeding.
An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as an expert.
Voir dire (/ ˈ v w ɑːr d ɪər /; often / v ɔɪ r d aɪər /; from an Anglo-Norman term in common law meaning "to speak the truth") is a legal term for procedures during a trial that help a judge decide certain issues: Prospective jurors are questioned to decide whether they can be fair and impartial.
A leading question is a question that suggests a particular answer and contains information the examiner is looking to have confirmed. [1] The use of leading questions in court to elicit testimony is restricted in order to reduce the ability of the examiner to direct or influence the evidence presented.
In American criminal law, a material witness is a person with information alleged to be material concerning a criminal proceeding. The authority to detain material witnesses dates to the First Judiciary Act of 1789, but the Bail Reform Act of 1984 most recently amended the text of the statute, and it is now codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3144.
Attorneys must lay a foundation for witness testimony at trial. [26] The process differs when the witness is a lay witness or an expert witness. [26] However, as a baseline matter for both expert and lay witnesses, the testimony must be established to be helpful in assisting the trier of fact understand a fact at issue in the case. [27] [28]
When a witness is asked a question, the opposing attorney can raise an objection, which is a legal move to disallow or prevent an improper question to others, preferably before the witness answers, and mentioning one of the standard reasons, including: argumentative; asked and answered; best evidence rule; calls for speculation; calls for a ...
A law adopted in 2000 lowered the sentence of a witness who came to an agreement with the prosecution in trials concerning money-laundering, but it was not called a crown witness rule. [25] In 2009 a new crown witness rule came into force and since then, witnesses in a wider range of cases have been allowed to become a crown witnesses. [26] [27]