Cross-Examination: Inconsistency With Physical Evidence
Litigation

Cross-Examination: Inconsistency With Physical Evidence

Cross-Examination: Inconsistency With Physical Evidence
Ian Paul
January 10, 2022

Find inconsistencies with the evidence to create a powerful cross examination.

One very effective method of cross-examination is to find areas where the witness is inconsistent the physical evidence. If there is physical evidence which is going to be irrefutable evidence that is virtually impossible to dispute, then it will be hard to believe the witness if their evidence is inconsistent with that evidence.

In the Jodi Arias trial, there was physical evidence in the form of a camera that had accidentally taken two photos. The first photograph was taken when Jodi Arias dropped the camera at the beginning of the confrontation. The second photo was taken when Jodi Arias picked up the camera after the confrontation. The second photo showed a severely injured person. There was only one minute and two seconds between the two photographs. Jodi Arias’ evidence was that she would have been body slammed, got away from the other party, got back up, went down a hallway, went into a closet, located a gun, went back to the bathroom with the gun, shot the other person, located a knife from somewhere, and stabbed the person. The prosecutor, through his cross-examination, established the foundation for a strong argument that the evidence of the accused was inconsistent with the known physical evidence in that it was unlikely that all of this activity occurred in about a minute.

See the cross-examination on the video below.

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