Please Help!!

[depressed182]

Prosecution have given there evidence. The complainants DVD interview will be played after lunch. It looks like all witness's will be questioned tomorrow which means that the verdict will be Thursday / Friday now. Hopefully.

By far the most gut wrenching and worst experience of my life so far. Only 3 days to go hopefully after today.

[YearsOfHell]

Well done!
Keep going, you're doing fine
YoH

[Aidy]

In many ways, the first day is the hardest!
The accusers and her witnesses cross examinations will hopefully show the jury the truth!
Good luck and never stop believing!

[Mr B]

Best of luck. Thinking of you. Breath in, hold for 3 secs, then breath out, wait 3 secs. It will calm you down a treat.

Mr B

[depressed182]

Thank you all for the kind words.

Tomorrow will be all the witnesses cross examined. Looks like I will be cross examined on Weds at the earliest.

Keep telling myself just get through this week.

[wakingnightmare]

Best of luck for the rest of the week.

As things unfold you will hopefully begin to feel more confident.

[depressed182]

Had time to reflect on things on the way home.

The complainant is set to be cross examined in the morning by my barrister.

Can anyone give me an idea how this works ? Will the prosecution be involved in the questioning , typically how long can it take for each witness there will be 3 in total over the coming days.

I just want to get clear in my head how the next few days will pan out, because of my illness and sleep at the moment I'm trying to figure out when I will be called.

Also when I take the stand will there be questions from both the defense and prosecution and is this the case for everyone who takes the stand, or do only the defense question the prosecution witnesses and vice versa.

Also , my barrister told me not to speculate or be unsure of anything as the prosecution will jump all over this which is obvious. However there are some things that I'm not sure about that i know they will question me about. What do I say as my reply ? Is I don't know doesn't sound good enough does it ??

[Staystrong1]

Hi well done for getting through day one. FA being questioned by your barrister will be the 1st time someone has doubts or quested the FA? In my OH case this is where's the truth begins to be heard. It's all been one way to,date so your defence barrister can really challenge tomorrow and expose lies. Both prosecution and defence will question all witnesses. There is no set time limit for witness questioning but usually cps witnesses are fairly quick. Character witnesses got questioned failrly briefly by defence and I was questioned for 10 mins or so by defence and 4-5 mins prosecution. Your son will also be questioned by cps and the defence barristers and it is important he answers as clearly as he can. Again it's important your son answer and clearly as possible and if he isn't sure of the question ask for it to be repeated. CPS Can be underhand in questioning but as long as he answers honestly and if he can't recall something answer truthfully. If during trial,he hears anything from witnesses he know is untrue or not right tell him to note this down and pass to solicitor to hand to barrister

When you are questioned by CPS obviously you will be anxious but I answered as clearly as I could. Don't speculate just answer the question and be honest if you don't know the answer say I don't know don't guess. Look at the jury when you answer the question. You can get through this it is over really quickly.

The 1st couple of days are the worst but he and you should feel stronger as week goes on. When you have given your evidence you can then sit in the gallery to support him.

Stay strong you are doing well x

[depressed182]

Thanks for the reply. Your comments are very helpful.

Yes this will be the first time the FA has been questioned by anyone.

The DVD that was played today was edited as there was a few jump cuts to later on in the DVD . Is it normal for the CP's and the police to manipulate evidence in favour of the prosecution ?

Ps - I think the son references are to another member going through the same thing as me on this forum this week. Very helpful regardless.

[Peter1975]

Thanks for the reply. Your comments are very helpful.

Yes this will be the first time the FA has been questioned by anyone.

The DVD that was played today was edited as there was a few jump cuts to later on in the DVD . Is it normal for the CP's and the police to manipulate evidence in favour of the prosecution ?

.

Well done for getting through the day, The first one is often the hardest.

Yes, it is common if not usual for both the complainants and defendants interviews to be edited for court. The edits are agreed between prosecution and defence (or ruled on by the judge if they can't agree) and are usually just edited to take out unnecessary parts, such as statutory warnings, asking for pin numbers to your phones etc. Your defence team should have viewed the full interviews to decide on what they wanted leaving in.

Best of luck for tomorrow.

[Staystrong1]

Hi sorry yes, I did get mixed up. Same advise though stay strong, look at the jury when giving your answers. My OH when he was questioned although he is usually very quiet and I did worry if he would be able to come across well did really ok. CPS did ask questions and try to bait him at times but he stayed steadfast to the truth and answered calmly and honestly, I think it was about an hour or so he was questioned by CPS.

They do edit the FA video but your defence team should of had sight of the original and they do have to agree the video evidence. try not to worry about that. The FA DVD interview evidence in OH trial showed a very different attitude to the FA in court being questioned bY his defence Barrister. FA when caught out lying and questioned at length by defence Barrister got very angry and was shouting at times. This is where the Trial,began to turn. Stay strong you can do this x

[depressed182]

Thank you for the answers. I'll keep you posted with the events tomorrow, I know this may sound odd but your support has been on par with my legal team at times and has been invaluable so far.

[Franticwithworry]

Mine us just another voice to add to those wishing you well. I don't have any experience of going through a trial to pass on (yet :-(), but I know from experience elsewhere that one of the hardest parts is over.

You have begun, and the end is in sight. There's been lots of really good advice here, and the only useful thing I can add is to remind you to remember that you have the truth. 'All' you are being asked to do is to tell the truth. It is a big task, under these circumstances when you feel that everyone is not believing you, but believe in yourself, be confident but not cocky and there's every chance the truth will shine through.

In some respects, the complainant has a much harder task, and it's likely that their lies will trip them up. If you don't know something you are asked about, have the confidence to say that you don't know. Everyone's truth has gaps in it. It's the liars who try to fill in every hole and that could be their undoing.

Know too, that you have many people here thinking of you who are with you in spirit. You WILL get to the end of the week, this trial WILL end and I have bananas ar the ready, waiting for you.

[depressed182]

Draining day today guys. The prosecution is finished. Defence tomorrow and then it looks like they will wrap up for a verdict.

[Peter1975]

Get some rest and make sure you eat and drink something.

You get to tell the truth to the jury tomorrow, look them in the eye and hold your head up. Talk to them as though it is a conversation and try to keep your answers short. Most importantly, don't lose your cool with the prosecution barrister. All you have to do is calmly tell the truth.

Good luck. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow and praying for justice.