The problem with a defense lawyer standing up and objecting and basically whining to the judge that the plaintiff's attorney is badgering his witness, is nothing more than whining and complaining to the judge for help. On the other hand, the judge might tell the attorney to move on to a different topic or subject. The judge might choose not to do anything and overrule the defense attorney's objection. When that happens, the judge must make a decision about what to do about it, if anything. This phrase I just mentioned, 'badgering the witness', simply indicates the perception that the attorney is creating a hostile environment for the witness, is being argumentative and being obnoxious. I will share with you that I've been in practice for more than 26 years here in New York handling accident cases and medical malpractice cases and have never seen an attorney with a live badger hitting a witness with it during a trial. He's badgering my witness!” w hat exactly does that mean? It means that the attorney is asking hostile questions and is likely arguing with the witness.Įvery time I hear this objection, I envision in my mind an attorney actually holding a live badger and bashing it over the witness's head. When a defense attorney jumps up from his seat and yells “Objection Judge. The only relief that the witness may experience will be at the conclusion of his testimony when the attorney questioning him says “I have no further use of this witness” and then sits down. That can be a very effective strategy for an attorney who cross-examines a hostile witness. You can often feel the tension in the air. Uncomfortable for anyone sitting and observing the trial. There are instances where the cross examination will get very heated and uncomfortable.
On the other hand, the witness simply might be sticking to his guns and refusing to give in on any point. This defense witness might be trying to intentionally push the attorney's buttons to trigger an outburst and try and generate sympathy. In a case where this doctor had great credentials and provided very good testimony for the defense, I believe the case turned entirely on this medical expert's testimony and the games he was playing. In fact, I believe that because this doctor was so antagonistic and refused to accept the most basic of medical statements, he turned the jury against him. That raised many questions in the minds of the jurors about what this doctor was trying to hide. Instead of simply acknowledging what should have been obvious, this doctor decided he was going to argue with me about every single question. They recognized immediately that he was playing word games and semantics. It was plain for the jury to see that this doctor was playing games.
#Badger a witness synonym series
Instead, he became a fierce advocate and what should have been a nonconfrontational series of questions, turned out to be extremely confrontational and hostile. He would have done much better to simply agree that it is critical that a physician keep accurate, thorough and detailed notes of his interactions with the patient. “It's important to keep records, what you mean by detailed?” This was a real interaction that I had with a medical expert who came in to defend a doctor in a medical malpractice case. “ Doctor, would you agree that it's important for a Doctor to keep detailed records of his interaction with a patient?”
“ Doctor, would you agree that it's important for a physician to keep thorough records?” “Doctor, would you agree that it is good medical practice to keep accurate records? Doctor fights with attorney over stupid stuff You should know that cross examination does not mean that angry examination.ĭespite this, the defense medical expert refuses to acknowledge even the most basic things such as. This witness is, for all intents and purposes, a hostile witness. Plaintiff's attorney has no choice but to ask leading questions while cross-examining this witness. This otherwise polite learned medical man has now turned into a fierce advocate who refuses to accept and acknowledge anything that the plaintiff's attorney is asking. The injured victims attorney (known as the plaintiff's attorney) stands up to cross examine this medical expert.Īlmost from the get-go the defense's medical expert becomes hostile. This medical expert was pleasant and polite. He has just finished answering questions from the defense attorney in what could only be described as a pleasant exchange of questions and answers. The defense's medical expert is on the witness stand.
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