Attending court as a witness

[mintiegreen]

Hi all

I wondered if anyone could help me with what it's like to attend court as a witness? I've never done it before and I'll also have a newborn at the time.

I've googled but there's not a lot of detailed information.

Bump

There is usually someone at Court who will help you. Is it a criminal trial or something else?

Not being nosy just trying to find the best source of support.

I was in a room with other witnesses away from the defendant. There were support people there who were lovely. In the end, the defendant pleaded guilty so I didn't need to go on the stand. A lot will change their plea at the last minute after hoping witnesses won't turn up!

you’ve probably seen this re criminal proceedings

Going to Court as a witness

If it’s a criminal case you’ll swear an oath on a holy book depending on your faith or affirm if you aren’t religious. You’ll then be asked questions by the lawyer for the person on whose side you’re appearing which will be designed to elicit your account of what happened. That’s called evidence in chief. You’ll then be cross examined - asked questions - by the lawyer representing the defendant- then the lawyer for the prosecution can also ask any further questions arising from that - known as re examination. If you’re giving evidence for the defence then it’s the same as above but the other way round and prosecution will cross examine.

Whatever the type of proceedings there will be someone at Court who can show you where to wait etc. You can ask for a rough time estimate and explain you have a new baby so that you’re not kept waiting around. You could ask if it’s possible to attend via a video platform the Court may be able to accommodate that.

If it’s a civil trial you don’t give evidence to elicit your account; any witness statement you may have given will stand as your evidence in chief and then you’ll be cross examined.

it won’t be an aggressive or unpleasant experience - don’t worry. Judges are very alive to witnesses being questioned aggressively etc.

Please also bear in mind that if it’s a criminal case the defendant could plead guilty and you won’t have to attend at all, unless you’re a victim and want to or if it’s civil there’s a huge possibility it’ll settle and you won’t need to go.

if you’re a defendant/claimant you can seek information from any lawyers representing you or form the Court itself.

Hope this helps but if you have any more questions just ask and I’ll post later when I can.

@Picoloangel It is criminal - and I highly doubt that they will plead guilty beforehand, they are not the sort to admit any sort of wrongdoing that's for sure. Thank you for the link, I did read some stuff online but it was sort of general stuff. Hopefully it'll be quite a smooth process.

@Mabelface I wish that they would do that and save us all the aggro, but they're not the sort of person to admit anything they did was wrong. Which is unfortunate.

I attended as the main witness to a serious violent crime ( not against me and the victim was the only other witness). I was in a room with other witnesses for other cases for the four days I had to wait to testify. The defendants were remanded into prison so, I think, were brought to the court daily from prison and I never saw them. It had been agreed I would be behind a screen when I gave evidence so all I could see were the judge, barristers and jury, not the defendants. It was honestly painless although very boring waiting for four days. In the end I was only in court for a short while, the cross examining was minimal and very respectful and I found the whole process quite painless although of course it's nerve wracking.
Sadly the defendants were found not guilty at the end of the week which completely shocked me as I thought it was a foregone conclusion they'd be found guilty as I know what I saw.
I was left feeling a little vulnerable when they were released but thankfully there was no comeback from them ( my name was never read out but they knew who I was)

@hesbeen2021 thanks so much for your experience. Mine is a little closer to home so the defendant is known to me and they know who I am so I suppose not much point in trying to be anonymous. He isn't remanded in prison (yet, although he's skirting close to breaking bail). I sincerely hope he is found guilty as that would be a gut punch.
I really hope I wouldn't have to wait around for 4 days but that's good to know because I'll have to pack enough bits for me and baby. I was lying awake last night thinking I'll have to take a suitcase on the train to stay there because I'll probably have bottles and sterilisers etc!

@hesbeen2021 forgot to say I am quite anxious about cross examining but then my statement given to police was exactly my own experience so there shouldn't be anything to find there! Hopefully they will be nice, I'm not very good in confrontational situations!

Mintie The citizens advice run a witness service within courts who are really helpful and supportive. I’d highly recommend getting in touch with them.

@GodspeedJune I'll definitely contact them. Is it general to all courts? I live very far away from where I have to go to give evidence.

The Officer in the Case should be able to assist with all of this or at least point you in the right direction of help. Also worth asking if they will hear your evidence remotely

I did this ages ago.
The whole thing seemed to go by very quickly. I felt a tiny bit miffed that no one says 'Please tell us your side of the story' but they fire fairly rapid questions and move on quickly leaving me feeling I wanted to say 'Hang on....let me tell you about the bit where...'

I'd say listen as carefully as you can to the questions and ask for clarity if you need to.
Also, as I stepped into the witness box the clerk? usher? thrust the bible and the appropriate words on a card into my hands and started the 'swear on the holy book' wording. I had to stop them and ask to affirm godlessly.
I hope this is done better these days.

Wishing you well with this, it's a bit daunting but I was proud to be part of the system that brought someone to justice.

I've not been contacted by anyone yet, so I guess I will wait and see if they do. I'll have to tell them that I will have a very small baby at the time depending on when I actually give birth.

@VeronicaBeccabunga that sounds awful! Certainly won't be swearing on any holy book that's for sure... I do hope that they give me time to answer. I'm probably going to be a bit wobbly anyway because of being freshly postpartum!!

Just updating. Witness care contacted me and I explained my situation. They're happy for me to bring my newborn. They're going to book a train for me and a hotel. Now I'm just anxious about being in court/cross examining and what to wear!

You can affirm. Wear whatever you feel comfortable in - some people
go full on suited and booted but mostly is say smart casual

It's fast approaching now and I am very anxious. I have my train and hotel booking and it's several trains as it's travelling at the weekend.

Very nervous about it all. Worried about what to wear. Worried about what will happen. Anxious that my evidence won't help or will hurt the case. Just feel sick about it all.

Picking one of the things in your list of worries that you can control - what's your shortlist of what to wear?

I mean I've just had a baby so most of my clothes don't fit me. I have to attend a funeral this week so possibly whatever I wear to that. I've got to wear my baby for travel so I'll need to check if it'll ride up or not.

I witnessed a serious assault about 5 years ago and was called as a witness. I gave a statement at the time and had a visit from a cop to go over this and to confirm that I would appear in court. I was very nervous like you but just a day or two before court I got a call to say that it had been settled and wasn't needed. Maybe the same will happen for you op.

I hope this will happen but I know the person who is on trial and I know that they won't do this. Unfortunately his character doesn't permit admitting wrongdoing :(

Remember OP you've nothing to fear as you're telling the true facts.

My husband was a witness years go. They showed him the courtroom first. Someone sat with us the whole time. He wasn't called but they said after he had given evidence we would of been allowed to leave as soon as finished.

I have to stay to support the person I am giving evidence for unfortunately. They have booked a train for after the whole day is finished - means we get home really really late. I just don't know what they'll ask me and I'm worried that they won't convict and then I'm not sure where the person I'm there for stands with it. I'm worried they'll try and discredit me or make me look silly? I don't know.

I've given evidence as victim in criminal case before and it wasn't nearly as bad I was expecting. Like you I was worried about saying the wrong thing but I just tried to answer as clearly and calmly as I could. Defense did try to discredit me but it felt pretty half-hearted and no one believed it. Good luck.