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How Cross Examination Wins Cases | Houston Criminal Law

Dan Cogdell | 1185 Views | 08/27/2015

Cross Examination

Let me explain to you how effective cross-examination on a case I handled a while back actually controlled the outcome of the case. I think we won that case on a single cross-examination.

Hello, my name is Dan Cogdell, I’m a criminal lawyer here in Texas. I’ve been practicing criminal defense work for about 32 years. Several years ago I represented an individual called Carol Kelly. Carol Kelly was the CEO of an institution called Continental Savings & Loan. It was one of the larger savings and loan institutions at the time, quite successful, and ultimately when one of the markets fell several years back the savings and loan industry in Texas generally sort of went in the tank.

Cross Examination Example

On cross-examination, the government’s star witness was an individual who testified over and over and over again in a series of different trials that not only had my trial had my client engaged in criminal conduct in order to get a sentence reduction for him, he was in prison at the time, but he’d previously testified in two or three other trials that other defendants in other situations were also guilty. All in exchange to get his sentence reduced.

In other words, he was the classic jail-house snitch who was trying to stand on the back of our clients to get out of prison sooner. On direct examination, this individual stated that he’d never told a lie. Let me repeat that: he testified on direct examination that he never told a lie. I didn’t object, I let the prosecutor keep going in to how truthful, how honest, how law-abiding, and how believable he was. Much of that testimony was probably objectionable, but I had a plan. And the plan was this: if I could convince the jury that he was lying about one thing, I believed I could convince that jury that he was lying about everything.

Direct Examination

So the cross-examination went something like this:  Mr. Smith, you told this jury you’ve never told a lie?  Yes, sir. Is that true Mr. Smith, you’ve never told a lie? Yes, sir.  So let me get this straight. You’ve never told your child that there was a Santa Claus, you never told your boss that you were late to work, you never told your teacher in college that you had a flat? You’ve never lied, at all, under any circumstances?  Well, yes Mr. Cogdell I have told those lies, but those aren’t lies under oath.  Well Mr. Smith, you know you’re under oath now, right? So when you told the jury that you’ve never lied before, that was a lie under oath, wasn’t it?  Yes sir, I guess it was.  So can we start with the proposition with the beginning on cross-examination that you come into this court as an admitted perjurer under oath? Can we start from there?  And it went on and on and on and on. I give you that explanation, not to show you that there’s a clever parlor trick about cross-examining witnesses, but to explain to you the notion that you need a seasoned lawyer.

Cross Examination Strategy

Sometimes the adage is true. Sometimes you need to give the witness enough rope so they hang themselves. Other lawyers might have objected, other lawyers might have had that back-slapping testimony stricken or not admitted in front of the jury; but we made the decision to give that juror enough rope to hang himself, and he did.

Cogdell Law Firm

When you hire a lawyer, make sure your lawyer’s got the experience, has the history, has the capacity, and has the ability to know when to let a witness run and when to let a witness not run. To know, more importantly, how to cross-examine a witness, how to get the points home, and how to make sure a jury understands, sometimes, that if a witness is lying about one thing, they’re lying about everything.  If you have any questions, if you have any comments, if you have any concerns, call us. We’re here to help you if we can. Maybe we’re the right fit for you, maybe we’re not, but we’d love to hear from you. Thank you. My name is Dan Cogdell.

By: Dan Cogdell

How Cross Examination Wins Cases | Houston Criminal Law

Cross Examination

Let me explain to you how effective cross-examination on a case I handled a while back actually controlled the outcome of the case. I think we won that case on a single cross-examination.

Hello, my name is Dan Cogdell, I’m a criminal lawyer here in Texas. I’ve been practicing criminal defense work for about 32 years. Several years ago I represented an individual called Carol Kelly. Carol Kelly was the CEO of an institution called Continental Savings & Loan. It was one of the larger savings and loan institutions at the time, quite successful, and ultimately when one of the markets fell several years back the savings and loan industry in Texas generally sort of went in the tank.

Cross Examination Example

On cross-examination, the government’s star witness was an individual who testified over and over and over again in a series of different trials that not only had my trial had my client engaged in criminal conduct in order to get a sentence reduction for him, he was in prison at the time, but he’d previously testified in two or three other trials that other defendants in other situations were also guilty. All in exchange to get his sentence reduced.

In other words, he was the classic jail-house snitch who was trying to stand on the back of our clients to get out of prison sooner. On direct examination, this individual stated that he’d never told a lie. Let me repeat that: he testified on direct examination that he never told a lie. I didn’t object, I let the prosecutor keep going in to how truthful, how honest, how law-abiding, and how believable he was. Much of that testimony was probably objectionable, but I had a plan. And the plan was this: if I could convince the jury that he was lying about one thing, I believed I could convince that jury that he was lying about everything.

Direct Examination

So the cross-examination went something like this:  Mr. Smith, you told this jury you’ve never told a lie?  Yes, sir. Is that true Mr. Smith, you’ve never told a lie? Yes, sir.  So let me get this straight. You’ve never told your child that there was a Santa Claus, you never told your boss that you were late to work, you never told your teacher in college that you had a flat? You’ve never lied, at all, under any circumstances?  Well, yes Mr. Cogdell I have told those lies, but those aren’t lies under oath.  Well Mr. Smith, you know you’re under oath now, right? So when you told the jury that you’ve never lied before, that was a lie under oath, wasn’t it?  Yes sir, I guess it was.  So can we start with the proposition with the beginning on cross-examination that you come into this court as an admitted perjurer under oath? Can we start from there?  And it went on and on and on and on. I give you that explanation, not to show you that there’s a clever parlor trick about cross-examining witnesses, but to explain to you the notion that you need a seasoned lawyer.

Cross Examination Strategy

Sometimes the adage is true. Sometimes you need to give the witness enough rope so they hang themselves. Other lawyers might have objected, other lawyers might have had that back-slapping testimony stricken or not admitted in front of the jury; but we made the decision to give that juror enough rope to hang himself, and he did.

Cogdell Law Firm

When you hire a lawyer, make sure your lawyer’s got the experience, has the history, has the capacity, and has the ability to know when to let a witness run and when to let a witness not run. To know, more importantly, how to cross-examine a witness, how to get the points home, and how to make sure a jury understands, sometimes, that if a witness is lying about one thing, they’re lying about everything.  If you have any questions, if you have any comments, if you have any concerns, call us. We’re here to help you if we can. Maybe we’re the right fit for you, maybe we’re not, but we’d love to hear from you. Thank you. My name is Dan Cogdell.

By: Dan Cogdell