This presentation addresses the skill of cross-examination. It is designed as a basic skills overview of the process of cross-examination. It will make use of lecture, demonstration, and the use of video to describe and illustrate the process. Topics covered will include: form of the question in cross-examination; organization of a cross-examination; the use of Headnotes or topics to break the examination into smaller bites; making cross-examination surgical instead of a repetition of direct examination; the use of exhibits in cross-examination; structuring cross-examination to make the greatest impact; impeachment by inconsistent statement, and witness control.

Objectives: 
1. Use leading questions in a cross-examination while understanding why not to ask open questions except in special circumstances
2. Employ case analysis to develop topics that gain support for the examiner’s case, show mistakes the witness made, prove the witness may be wrong, illustrate bias, and demonstrate prevarication
3. Make use of primacy and recency to make topics the most memorable
4. Include exhibits in a cross-examination to strengthen the power of the examination
5. Chose points to make cross-examination surgical in nature and not a repetition of direct examination
6. Impeach a witness who has made inconsistent answers
7. Control a witness through questions and other techniques

Speaker:
Afi Johnson-Parris, Esq., Partner, Fox Rothschild