in this video, we're gonna be talking about the two most important types of
questions you need to be asking in all your cross examinations. Welcome to Law
Venture. My name is Jarrett Stone. And before diving in, be sure to check in the
description for some links to some freebies and a quiz so you can help
determine your potential as a lawyer. Okay, so let's dive in a little bit. If
you haven't seen the last video talking about the most important question that
you need to be asking in all your cross examinations, you may want to pause this
video and go check it out... or now that I think about it... you can probably just
wait to the end of this video and then check it out. There is a little bit of
overlap. But, my recommendation is be sure to watch both so you can have a good
grasp of not only the question you need to be asking but the types of questions
you need to be asking in all your cross examinations. So let's talk about the two
types of questions that you need to be asking in your cross examinations. The first
type I'm just going to simply refer to as your "positive types" of questions and the
second type -- spoiler alert -- are going to be our "negative types" of questions. Now I
won't spend too much time with the positives because these are what you're
used to asking. These are essentially really boiled down to confirming to the
jury that the witness either did something or saw something. Here's an example to
make that a little bit more concrete. Let's say you're cross-examining a
witness or a defendant and that witness you can lock down and confirm to the
jury was texting while driving or was driving over the speed limit or if it's
an eyewitness you can lock down exactly what that eyewitness saw. So these
positive questions are what you're used to hearing. They're pretty basic. They're
pretty fundamental. I won't spend too much time on it. Alternatively, the second
types of questions, which I'm referring to as the negative questions because I
can't come up with a better phrase, those are my favorite types of questions
because you can really lock down what the witness chose not to do or didn't do
or if it's an eyewitness what the witness didn't see. So that really gets
the jury thinking. More importantly, it gets them being critical of the witness
because the witness just told a story on Direct and that story the jury is most
likely going to try and believe. But, once you start poking holes on Cross, remember
your entire purpose of cross examination is to nuke that direct examination and
to also tell your client's story through your lines of questions. Now, here's where
things are getting fun with these negative types of questions. If the
witness says that they did X Y & Z, then you can show that they didn't do certain
other actions that maybe could have been safer or maybe could have prevented
whatever the witness is complaining about. At the same time, if the witness is
an eyewitness you can start questioning them about, "okay maybe they saw one
particular thing. But, they didn't see other things. These other things are also
very important so how credible is that eyewitness if they just happen to have
selective memory of one particular aspect of what they saw? And keep in mind,
with a trial it's sometimes a year or two down the road so memory gets a
little fuzzy and the story maybe starts changing a little bit. And you can really
start poking holes in that story by showing, "okay yeah this whole picture
isn't there." And that allows the jury to actually start being a little bit more
critical of what they're hearing. And they're also simultaneously hearing your
story and then they start coming around to your story. And they start believing
your client even though your client's not up there testifying. And that's the real
power of cross-examination. Now I can keep kind of ranting about this, but I
think you get the concept at this point. If you are confused about this, when it
comes to having positive types of questions or negative types of questions,
then be sure to leave a question in the comments and I'll be happy to answer
them. Be sure to give this video a thumbs up, click Subscribe, and don't forget the
freebies below. My name is Jarrett Stone and I'll see you in the next video!