A witness called or re-called to testify by the judge. • The witness called to testify by the court usu. has expertise in the subject matter of the trial and is considered necessary to resolve a conflict in the testimony. The court’s discretion to call its own witnesses exists in both civil and criminal cases.
Scots law. A witness who comes forward without being summoned to appear in court.
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witness stand. The space in a courtroom, usu. a boxed area, occupied by a witness while testifying. — Often shortened to stand. — Also termed witness box. [Cases: Witnesses 228. C.J.S. Witnesses §§ 396–398, 404–405.]
two-witness rule. 1. The rule that, to support a perjury conviction, two independent witnesses (or one witness along with corroborating evidence) must establish that the alleged perjurer gave false testimony. [Cases: Perjury 34. C.J.S. Perjury § 43.] 2. The rule, as stated in the U.S. Constitution, that no person may be convicted of treason without
commission to examine a witness. A judicial commission directing that a witness beyond the court’s territorial jurisdiction be deposed. • The commission usu. identifies the person to be deposed, when and where the deposition will be taken, and any other information that will help the commissioner to perform. — Also termed commission to take a
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take the witness. You may now question the witness. • This phrase is a lawyer’s courtroom announcement that ends one side’s questioning and prompts the other side to begin its questioning. Synonymous phrases are your witness and pass the witness.
separation of witnesses. The exclusion of witnesses (other than the plaintiff and defendant) from the courtroom to prevent them from hearing the testimony of others. [Cases: Criminal Law 665; Federal Civil Procedure 2012; Trial 41. C.J.S. Criminal Law § 1195; Trial § 155.]
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Archaic. A witness who is about to leave a court’s jurisdiction, but not the country. • An example is the witness who leaves one state to go to another.
sequestration (see-kwes-tray-sh[schwa]n), n. 1. The process by which property is removed from the possessor pending the outcome of a dispute in which two or more parties contend for it. Cf. ATTACHMENT(1); GARNISHMENT. [Cases: Sequestration 1. C.J.S. Sequestration §§ 2–3, 5.] conventional sequestration. The parties’ voluntary deposit of the property at issue in a lawsuit. judicial
A process, with a warrant to arrest or attach included, that compels a person to appear in court as a witness. [Cases: Witnesses 2. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 469–485.]
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