|
|
"'You May, But Need Not Cross Examine,'
Judge Leibowitz Tells Forum
Harvard
Law Record - April 12, 1950 - Page 1
reprinted by permission
"You may, but need not, cross examine" was the main thesis of an address on the Art of Cross Examination, delivered by Samuel Liebowitz, Judge of Kings County Court, New York, before an overflow audience of the Harvard Law School Forum last Friday evening.
By many apt illustrations the speaker demonstrated that a trial lawyers should not only know how to conduct the actual cross examination, but then above all he must know when to cross-examine.
The speaker pointed out that the first prerequisite before starting any cross examination is to establish if the testimony given on direct examination and the personality of the witness have damaged one's case. There is no need to cross examine if no real harm has been done. The cross examiner must have a definite goal in mind toward which to direct his questioning and must decide how he intends to reach that end.
Stressing the importance of a full grasp of the fact situation involved in each case, Judge Liebowitz noted that it is vital for the trial lawyer to see the witnesses' stories as "moving pictures." If possible, no question should be asked to which the examiner does not himself know the expected answer beforehand. The speaker listed as the prerequisites of a successful cross examiner the following factors: self-control, caution, tact, patience, determination, and a special ability to dramatize that which you have scored. Judge Leibowitz concluded his address by warmly recommending the practice of criminal law, a field which he termed "soul satisfying, thrilling, live, and clean."