Date: 7 Jul 2010 Comments: 0

Ever wander what it's like to cross-examine a cop? Ever wonder what it's like to be a criminal attorney up there in front of the jury trying your best to rip a cop to shreds on the witness stand? Are you actually a criminal defense attorney who wants to learn a little bit more? Well, you're in luck. We're going to talk about cross-examining cops today and the one thing that will make you better at it.

As you might expect, I'm a criminal attorney. Most of my clients have committed crimes like DUI or other driving offenses, or more minor crimes. Rarely do I represent people accused of committing felonies. This means a one important thing - generally the only two witnesses in my cases are the cop and my client. Since no one believes defendants, it's important that I figure out some ways to make the jury trust the cop's story less than they might otherwise do.

And there are ways to do that. But that's a time for another article. As the title suggests, this article is about that one thing that you can remember that will help you out the next time you are cross-examining a police officer.

What is that thing? Boiled down to it's simplest terms, it's an old adage - you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Now, most of know what that means, but what does it mean in the context of being a criminal lawyer?

I don't know about the rest of you, but most of the time when I look at a police report it appears to be full of a bunch of bull. There are things that the officer probably didn't see, that there is no way that he saw, and that he wanted to see because of the crime he was investigating (think DUI and red, watery, bloodshot eyes). But he's not just going to come out and tell you he was mistaken. You have to help him.

And helping him doesn't involve a lot of fire and brimstone, particularly at the beginning. If you can make the cop think he knows more than you or that he's got the upper hand, you can swing in at the end with a big sledge hammer and rip the case to shreds. But you're never going to get there if you come in too aggressive.

So think about that the next time you cross an officer. Don't let him walk all over you, but lure him in with some honey before you swat him with the fly swatter. You'll notice that that's how most criminal attorneys do it.

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