Birmingham Injury Blog

The Trial Practice Tips Weblog has posted an article that gives tips for dealing with "nonresponsive" witnesses in court. When a witness fails to directly answer a question, Evan Schaeffer, author of the blog, advises the questioner to keep repeating the question.

After a couple rounds of repeating the question, you'll usually get a proper answer. Sometimes, though, you'll have to increase the pressure with an "unresponsive" objection.

Mr. Witness, your answer is not responsive to my question. I move to strike your answer. I'll ask the question again. Did you supervise Mrs. Smith?

Usually, a witness will be uneasy about moving "to strike their answer." However, it is important to remember that only the questioning lawyer can "move to strike a nonresponsive answer."