Excellent Tips for effective cross examination of witness
“How to detect 'non-answers' during cross-examination”
Prof. John Henry Wigmore argued that "Cross examination is the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth." But that's only true if the cross-examination is conducted by a skilled examiner. Cross-examination is a tool, and like any other tool, its effectiveness is limited by the hand that wields it. In the hands of a master craftsman, cross-examination can achieve remarkable results. In the hands of a novice, it can often cause more harm than good.
To become a quality cross-examiner, you must master the ability to critically listen to witness's answers and identify the weaknesses, fallacies, and evasions in their responses.
One of the more common evasions you'll need to recognize is the "non-answer." Expert witnesses and well-prepped witnesses are the best masters of the "non-answer." At their finest, their responses don't even appear to be evasive. They'll make it sound like they've answered your question, but in fact, they're completely side-stepping it. They do this by telling you something that you hope to hear or giving you a response that sounds like what you need to hear.
If you've ever watched a political interview, you've probably seen "non-answers" in action. The interviewer asks a pointed question, but instead of receiving a direct answer, he gets a non-responsive answer like this one:
Q: Are you prepared tonight to say that you've never had an extramarital affair?
A: I'm not prepared tonight to say that any married couple should ever discuss that with anyone but themselves. I'm not prepared to say that about anybody... I have acknowledged causing pain in my marriage...
https://www.lawweb.in/2014/01/excellent-tips-for-effective-cross.html
