TEN COMMANDMENTS OF CROSS-EXAMINATION REVISITED

The late, great Professor Irving Younger gave us the Ten Commandments of cross-examination. He could talk all day about them, using memorable and humorous illustrations. He threatened to haunt his listeners if they ever violated one his ten commandments. These Ten Commandments are still viable and important and it’s time to revisit them:

IRVING YOUNGER’S TEN COMMANDMENTS
OF CROSS-EXAMINATION

1.   Be brief.

2.   Short questions, plain words.

3.   Always ask leading questions.

4.  Don’t ask a question, the answer to which you do not know in advance.

5.   Listen to the witness’[s] answers.

6.   Don’t quarrel with the witness.

7. Don’t allow the witness to repeat direct testimony.

8.   Don’t permit the witness to explain answers.

9.   Don’t ask the “one question too many.”

10. Save the ultimate point of your cross for summation.

The core reasoning behind these Ten Commandments is that if you adhere to them, you will control both the witness and the information delivered to the jury. If you lead, you provide the answer. If you know the answer, only the information you want the jury to hear will be heard. Follow these commandments and you are testifying. Break them, and suffer the consequences.

The Ten Commandments are valuable today, and should be reviewed before any trial. However, rather than being Ten Commandments, think of them as Ten Guidelines. There are times you may vary from them without suffering and there are times you should break a commandment.

Don’t Always Ask Leading Questions:  If you ask only leading questions, you may appear to be unfairly restricting the witness; not allowing the witness any latitude. You can loosen the reins if the answer couldn’t make any difference. Under certain circumstances discussed in Cross-ExaminationHandbook, you can even ask that “Why” question. Also, when the witness is fabricating, sometimes you should let go of the reins altogether and let the witness run. When the witness is lying and the examiner can prove the lie, non-leading questions are appropriate. In the Handbook, we go into how to expose a liar.

If the Situation Calls for It, Quarrel with the Witness: The demeanor of the cross-examiner and how questions are formed should vary depending upon the type of witness. While jurors will tend to be protective of a lay witness, who like the jurors is unaccustomed to a courtroom, they will tolerate and even expect that the lawyer will mix it up with a professional expert witness. The cross-examiner must adjust to the situation.

It Isn’t Always Necessary to Know the Answer Before Asking: Francis Wellman in the Art of Cross-Examination put it better when he wrote,  “A lawyer should never ask a witness in cross-examination a question unless in the first place the lawyer knows what the answer would be or in the second place didn’t care.”

What’s That Question?: “Avoid one too many questions,” commands Younger. Would any of us ask one too many questions if we knew which question was one too many? What does this commandment mean?

Younger’s ten points remain presumptive guidelines, and may only be ignored when a good reason exists.

Should you want to watch and listen to Professor Younger lecture on the Ten Commandments, watch him here.