Direct Examination

views updated

DIRECT EXAMINATION

The primary questioning of a witness during a trial that is conducted by the side for which that person is acting as a witness.

During the course of a direct examination, the attorney who is conducting the interrogation generally asks specific questions that provide the foundation of the case. After a witness is directly examined, the opposing side conducts a cross-examination, the purpose of which is to impeach or test the validity of the testimony.