Telling your witness to look at the jurors during their
testimony without teaching them how to do so can be fatal to your case.
A scared, anxious witness may only dare a quick terrified glance
mid-sentence at the jurors, which confirms in the jurors’ minds that yup, this
witness is surely hiding something. So much for the witness’s credibility.
Or a witness may attempt to “duke it out” during cross by
glaring at the jurors during his or her response, rather than focusing on
opposing counsel. This does not benefit your case.
Help your witness look at the jury in a way that enhances
their credibility even as it satisfies jurors’ need to see the witness’s eyes
to determine veracity. Which as many of
us will remember, is why our mothers would say; “Look me in the eyes when
you’re talking to me!”
During direct, suggest that your witness, when they have a
response of a couple of sentences or more, to begin their answer by looking at
you, to then turn out to the jurors and look at different jurors during the
bulk of their response, to conclude their response by turning back to you
during the last few words. If the witness can angle their body very slightly
towards the jury box, then turning out towards the jurors is smoother. All this
sounds easy, and certainly becomes easy, but only with practice.
I have found videorecorded role-play to be the most
effective way to help witnesses get comfortable with turning out to the jurors.
It’s best to do during direct, because during cross, the witness will rarely be
given an opportunity to respond with more than a few words, and focusing on
opposing counsel is their primary responsibility at that point.
“Look at the jurors,” yes, is a critical and essential
instruction, but how it is done can make all the difference to your case.
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