There is a lot of misconception as to just who is a hostile witness.
While a hostile witness is “hostile” to an attorney’s cause, hostile witnesses typically are witnesses the attorney has called himself.
So unlike the cross examination of an opposing party witness, a hostile witness is directly examined by the attorney.
You may be wondering why an attorney would call a witness hostile to his case. The answer is that oftentimes the attorney does not know what the witness will say.
When a court recognizes a witness as hostile, the rules of cross examination get switched up. Generally, an attorney is not allowed to ask certain questions like leading questions of witnesses they call.
However, with a hostile witness, the attorney may ask leading questions. There is no fear that the witness will be coached into an answer.
A hostile witness is really just a legal term that only lawyers are concerned with. Being deemed a “hostile witness” is not necessarily a bad thing, it just means that the rules of questioning have been adjusted. If you have any more questions regarding what is a hostile witness, you may want to contact an attorney.
Related Resources:
- Law: What does it mean when a lawyer says “permission to treat the witness as hostile”? (Quora)
- What Is Entrapment? (FindLaw’s Blotter)
- What to Expect at a Preliminary Hearing (FindLaw’s Blotter)
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