Always makes me chuckle

Sometimes they’re trying to play games- pull a witness into a way of thinking or get them off balance, or trap them, get them to countermand themselves and lose credibility- etc. and another tactic is to pull a witness into getting frustrated or sarcastic or aggressive. That can not only open them physiologically to emotionally say the “wrong” thing or misspeak, but it can also give a judge or jury a bad impression of them. Like it or not a major factor in many trials is simply who the court “likes” more. That’s part of why many “nasty” criminals are framed as victims etc. in court- to get them viewed as human beings and not criminals or monsters.

But one other thing that can happen if a witness becomes sarcastic or otherwise aggressive or uncooperative is that the attorney may request to treat them as a hostile witness. When you call a witness yourself and not the opposing side- you have certain rules for questioning etc. for instance you cannot ask “leading questions.” You can’t ask your own witness something like “would you say that it seemed Mr. Smith was out for revenge?” You must ask “what state did Mr. Smith seem to be in...” which might not get the exact answer you desire or need for your case strategy. But if you get your own witness declared hostile- not only do you now get to ask leading questions- but you may elect to cross examine your own witness. I won’t get too specific but a “direct examination” and “cross examination” also have different rules etc. that can make a cross favorable to your strategy- and one easy way to get that is to provoke a hostile witness.

The lawyer who knows the law best doesn’t win by default- and in fact a lawyer operating only by knowledge of letter of the law will likely lose more than they win- especially a defense lawyer. The law isn’t necessarily the key point in a case- especially a case where the law doesn’t favor your position. The interpretation of law and fact, and your ability to influence a judge or jury to interpret the law as you desire is. A lawyers goal is to get the best outcome for their client, to win. The in court and behind the scenes tactics and actions taken are simply to set up the most favorable position to win for them, the least favorable to their opponent, and to ensure that the version of facts they put forward is the accepted version by judge and or jury.

In a civil case one must prove to a laxer standard that on “preponderance of the evidence-“ in other words based on “common sense” and evidence presented. In a criminal case guilt must be proved “beyond all reasonable doubt.” That means a defense attorney doesn’t have to prove a client didn’t commit a crime- only that there is a CHANCE they didn’t commit it- and sell the jury that CHANCE is reasonable. The charges matter as well. A murder 1 charge or a many other acts require an intent. One must intend malice for the charge to stick. If a DA files murder 1 but no lesser charge- defense can openly argue their client DID kill the person but that there was no intent, or perhaps premeditation. You can’t convict of murder 1 without it- and without a lesser filing in the case, a jury can’t convict of manslaughter or lesser murder because the defendant is accused of those charges- so a “not guilty” of murder 1 is possible even if the defendant admittedly killed the victim.

Granted that can open up later charges or civil suits. So that may or may not be wise. Lawyers must be very careful what they say and what they get witnesses to say. They are crafting a reality. While some layered have goofs, and some are all around bad- much of the time what seems like a foolish thing to say is prudent and purposeful- or at least based in experience to be a good “seed” to plant. You generally don’t want assumption on a trial. You want to paint clear facts- the facts and reality of everyone in the room should be as close as possible to exactly what you want them to think. So sometimes you must be 1000% sure that everyone in the room understands. That no matter how non technical or... well... dumb a juror or judge is they get the point you want them to. You want to make sure that anyone day dreaming and bored doesn’t miss the key points you want them to take with them to deliberation.