If you’re facing criminal charges, then you need to be prepared to attack the evidence that prosecutors intend to use against you. This will probably include physical evidence and witness accounts, both of which hinge on testimony given in open court. Therefore, one piece of your criminal defense strategy should be to attack witness credibility and make objections that protect you from otherwise inadmissible evidence.
One way to do this is to conduct depositions of key witnesses. This is the process of taking sworn testimony outside of court for the purpose of learning what witnesses know and locking their testimony in. This allows you to identify any inconsistencies that can be pointed out at trial, thereby damaging witness credibility. It can also lead you to other witnesses who might be able to provide testimony to support your side of the case.
Another thing to be cognizant of is applicable rules of evidence, such as the rule against hearsay. Generally speaking, the rule against hearsay disallows an individual from testifying to a statement made outside of court for the purpose of proving the truth of that statement. By knowing this rule and its exceptions you can better position yourself to keep out damaging and inadmissible evidence while exploiting it to get otherwise inadmissible evidence before the judge and jury. This can be an enormously powerful tool to have in your arsenal, as witnesses are oftentimes challenging to track down and convince to testify.
Television makes dealing with witness testimony appear to be a matter of engaging in quick thinking “gotcha” moments. While you certainly need a criminal defense that is able to adapt on the fly, the most successful strategies are those that are thought out and developed well ahead of trial. If you think you could benefit from assistance in developing your criminal defense arguments, then you might want to seek out legal guidance as needed.
