Seven ways to be a good witness

From time to time Local Authorities prosecute people.  When that happens, the investigators normally have to appear in court.  That’s fine – they will be expecting it and most of them have had some training and experience in the subject.  But in some cases, other witnesses will be required.  What if they don’t want to go?

The simple fact is that anyone can be called to court to give evidence and, in most cases, they are competent (they are capable of giving evidence) and compellable (they can be forced to attend.  (That’s what subpoena means – under penalty.)

These ‘lay’ witnesses may have no idea what to expect, and may be concerned about what’s going to happen.  They’ll probably get very little advice, because of a fear of tainting their evidence by being seen to ‘coach’ them.  And whilst it’s true that you must never rehearse evidence with a witness (this could well be contempt of court), there is nothing wrong with making sure they have some good advice.  So here goes…

1. Relax.  Take a deep breath.  There, that’s better already.  All you’re going to do is tell the truth about what happened.  The more relaxed you are, the more believable you are, and that will lead to less chance of a challenge from ‘the other side’ and a pleasanter experience for you.
2. Talk to the bench (the magistrates, judge(s) or the panel), not to the solicitors who are asking the questions.  An easy way to remember this is to turn your toes towards the bench and only turn from the waist, or turn your head, in order to get the next question from the solicitor.
3. Stick to what you know.  All the evidence should be, “I saw”, “I did” or “I said” (never we). There are some exceptions, such as producing business records.
4. If you don’t know the answer, say so!  Don’t guess.  Don’t offer an opinion.
5. Stick to the point.  The other side will try to drag you away from the point – make it look as if you are unfocussed or introduce irrelevances that will confuse the issue.  Politely come back to the point you were making.
6. Keep it simple.  Courts are not experts in what you do.  If you use jargon, or allow what you do to sound complex, you’ll confuse the court, and if the court is confused, well the poor defendant…
7. Keep it short.  Lawyers love people who can’t stop talking as, sooner or later, they’ll score an own goal.  So just answer the question that was asked of you.  (On the other hand, don’t get tricked by sneaky closed question.  How do you answer, “Do you always smoke cannabis in the office?”).
8. Be considered: Take your time and ask to refer to your notes if appropriate.  The court wants the right answer¹, not a quickie!

A final bit of advice :  if it’s your first time, get there early, find the usher (long black gown, no wig), and tell them you’re a ‘newbie’.  Ask if they’d show you what’s where in the court room.  Be nice to the ushers – they are the ones who really run the courts!

Mike Neumann is an NLP Master Practitioner and Trainer, and a specialist in Investigation Law (you know, RIPA, PACE etc.).  He once spent a day and a half in the witness box explaining surveillance and made the mistake of saying, “I had the eyeball…”.  When he’s not running training courses (or businesses) he speaks at conferences, does a spot of executive coaching and hypnotises the unsuspecting!  Visit www.its-training-uk.com for more information.

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¹ Like how many ways to be a good witness – did you notice?