Travis' 10 Commandments of Witness Preperation

By: Travis Rice

1.       SLOW DOWN

           

            This is the most important one. I trip people up all the time by going super fast with my questions. It is a common lawyers trick. You get people going so fast that they become relaxed enough and answer almost anything based on the tone of your voice. Be aware of the tone of the Attorneys voice.

            If the attorney is going fast……please don’t answer fast. Think about what the attorney said and answer slowly. Think about what you are saying. It will have consequences. Now, the attorney may seem to get very upset and expect you to answer but don’t be fooled. Take time. The Judge won’t make you answer until you are ready. Also, you may feel like you are doing a bad job because the prosecutor will follow your slow answers quickly with another question that seems worse than the last one, done be fooled. TAKE YOUR TIME. It is the most important thing.

2.       YOU ARE MAKING A RECORD

           

            Everything you or I say is recorded and can be used against us. So, remember that there are consequences to what you say in Court. Do not think that you have immunity because you are testifying. If you are about to confess to something that may be incriminating say “I refuse to answer the question for thought that I may incriminate myself.” The judge may ask you to answer, but I would always recommend standing silent.

3.       TELL THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

           

            I know this seems like a no brainer. But, don’t embellish anything! Give us a crystal clear perspective what you say, heard, or felt at the time. Do not make something up or think that something was more than it was. Being a good witness boils down to the truth.

4.       BE OVERLY POLITE

           

            So, on the farm we called it a “shitty grin.” You want to be overly nice and polite to both the Court and that attorneys. Anwsner yes sir, no sir, please, thank you. Attorneys will actually be nicer to you on the stand if you use those words, that is because the Judge and Jury are caring about how you treat the witness. A prosecutor may even refuse to ask you the tough questions if you are polite because it may hurt their own perception with the jury or judge.

5.       NEVER ANWSER A QUESTION YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND

           

            This is very important. If you don’t understand say “could you repeat the question” or simply say “I don’t understand your question.” It will make the attorney rephrase the question and sometimes it will throw them off. It is very dangerous to answer a question that you do not completely understand. Please don’t think that the Court or the Jury will think you are slow or stupid for saying “I don’t understand.” One of the first things they do in law school is humiliate everyone to the point of understanding so, the Judge has been there, and most people in this world has been there too.

6.       IF YOU DON’T REMEMBER SAY “I DON’T REMEMBER”

Don’t make anything up. This was covered earlier. Testify truthfully. If the answer is “I don’t remember” please say “I don’t remember” or “I don’t recall,” and STOP! Nothing is worse than testifying of something you have no memory of then being proved a liar and perjury charges are filed against you. Please just say “I don’t recall.”

7.       DON’T GUESS

Please see above.

8.       DON’T VOLUNTEER ANYTHING TO THE OPPSOING PARTIES ATTORNEY

            I want to be clear, I am not telling you to lie, or testify falsely. I am simply saying that if the attorney asks you a question, simply answer the question, DO NOT GO FURTHER down the rabbit hole, do not play the prosecutors game, that is exactly what they want you to do. If you want to put up the best defense, make the prosecutor work for every answer they get from you. A prosecutor wants you to get on the stand and start blabbing, sometimes its about nonsense to show you may be crazy, sometimes they get you mad and you start to behave poorly in front of the jury, or sometimes its just to get you to say something they can use against you or someone else later. So most often the best answers for a prosecutors are “yes” and ‘no.” Short and sweet! 

            There is one exception to this rule. If the prosecutor is trying to mislead the Court about a circumstance, you know its wrong, and you want to elaborate, simply say “Can I elaborate on that question.” It is wonderful when that happened. It will likely happen when you testify. Give it your best try and try it!

9.       EYE CONTACT

Eye Contact with a Judge and the Jury is huge. If it is a Court trial, when I ask you a question turn to the Judge and answer. If it is a Jury trial, look at the jury and answer the question. It may seem weird at first, but it looks even weirder if you and I are the only ones talking to each other. When you turn to the Jury or Judge you will notice that they pay attention to what you say more.

Explain things with your hands and look at each one of them, don’t just focus on one juror.

10.   ELABERATE WITH ME NOT THE PROSECUTOR

            Finally #10, elaborate with me not the prosecutor. I can ask the right questions that will cause minimal exposure to you. If you want to elaborate on our questions, then do it. I try and only ask questions that will help the case so, if I ask you a question. I want you to talk about it. I may stop you and ask you to repeat something, or to explain it better by asking “why” or “how come” but that is just a signal to go further. You want to talk as much as possible when you are on the stand with me.

            The reason for this is simple. Once I ask a question, and you start to answer the prosecutor cannot object unless the answer contains hearsay. If you get an objection just simply move on as the judge instructs, don’t worry you didn’t do anything wrong, I didn’t do anything wrong, the objections are just to ensure fairness. Think of Monopoly, it is no fun when you don’t play by the rules right. The rules in Court are similar.

            Its my job to tell your story or the Defendants story. To do that, I need you talking, and helping me tell it as much as you can. It’s hard for us because we weren’t there, but you were. Just remember that we are relying on you to give us all the info.

I have no doubts if you TRY to do these things, you will be a great witness. Call me with any questions. (208) 230-9983.