Post-testimony processing.
Testifying two weeks ago in San Francisco was a learning and eye opening experience. It was firsthand exposure to the litigation process and I gained insight to the dynamic between attorneys, witnesses, judge and jury. It was very interesting and in contrast to the world to medicine. It is times like this, where I know I am headed in the right field! In the courtroom, one objective for the attorney during cross-examination is to discredit a witness and find fallacy in their testimony. A witness must slow down, speak carefully, not answer poor questions, stay on guard, not guess, be patient and not volunteer information that may be used against them. As they say, “anything you say can and will be used against you, in a court of law”. The environment is antagonizing and a juror’s job of extrapolating factual information can be damn near impossible. In the end, it seems as though nothing is factual and though I have not yet served on a jury, it must be a disheartening situation. Who can a person believe when it’s word for word? Do other cues affect a juror’s judgment, such as an attorney’s rhetoric, attractiveness, or the appearance of good rapport with the judge? Though it's not supposed to happen, I'm sure it does. Choose your attorney wisely when selecting someone to represent you! In contrast, the collaborative culture of medicine is based on solving problems and striving for an outcome proven to give the greatest good. “Collaborative”, being the keyword here. Doctors are not in practice to discredit or work against one another. Putting heads together to find an answer or frankly stating that the answer is unknown but under investigation, is a more satisfying scenario for me. My criticism is not intended to claim that one line of work is more valid than the other, but rather to entertain the idea that some people aren’t cutout for particular careers and I am glad there are those who want to be lawyers, because I don’t want to do it! My experience on the witness stand this month has reaffirmed my decision that I am headed in the right direction. Law school is not something I plan to investigate anytime in this present lifetime. Simply put, it just isn’t my cup of tea!
posted by miss akay @ 9:42 AM
3 Comments:
It must have been very stressful being a witness in this case, knowing what you know about the victim's circumstances. I hope he wins dammit!!!
when will u know about the verdict?
-jenn-
Two weeks have passed and the defense is still on stand. Some of their expert witnesses have given day or day-and-a-half testimonies each. My testimony lasted less than a few hours and I was at the actual scene, witnessing everything, from start to finish in front row seating. It's rather bewildering!
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