RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33933, 28 August 1975, Page 19

RANDOM REMINDER

SPIRIT OF JUSTICE

One of the more important rules of evidence requires that a barrister may not ask leading questions of a witness that he himself has called; in other words he must not put questions to a witness in a way which suggests the answer he hopes to receive Bv wav of example, if a Crown’Prosecutor were to say to a witness: “Did you then see a person approach the jeweller s window. throw a brick through it and scoop the contents of the window into a bag marked ’Swag.' and is there no doubt in your mind that this person was the accused?” that would be a leading question

Avoiding leading questions can sometimes give rise to difficulty. A barrister, prosecuting for the Crown on a charge of assault, called a doctor. All parties to the assault, including the accused. had ended up at the casualty department of a hospital, and the doctor was called to give evidence, among other matters, of the behaviour of the accused when being treated. 'When the accused presented himself for treatment." said the barrister to the doctor, “what was his demeanour?” The doqtor s medical knowledge was more ex-

tensive than his vocabulary. “Eh?” he asked. The barrister cast about for a synonym. “When you first saw the accused,” he said, “how, did he appear?” The doctor desperately tried to recall the details of a busy night in Casualty “I dunno.” he said finally. “He just appeared.” The barrister gave up. managing with difficulty to restrain himself from bursting into tears, and the matter was sorted out by the judge, who managed with difficulty to restrain himself from bursting into peals of unjudicial laughter.