hostile witness

idiom

: witness in a legal case who supports the opposing side

Examples of hostile witness in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Back in the courtroom with Jordan Payne on the stand after all, McCoy proved that Payne, Kelton and Veronica were all on the aforementioned trip to St. Bart's by using the flight manifesto, and despite Jordan’s penchant for being a hostile witness, his testimony spelled bad news for Kelton. Alex Ross, Peoplemag, 23 Feb. 2024 Here, Booth -- an attorney -- employed an effective courtroom tactic of letting a hostile witness discredit himself on the stand. Bryan Hendricks, arkansasonline.com, 10 Dec. 2023 Murphey would have still refused to testify and become a hostile witness. Jeremy Kohler, ProPublica, 10 Oct. 2023 McConney was granted immunity from prosecution and testified against the companies earlier in the trial, including for part of that testimony as a hostile witness. Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY, 17 Nov. 2022 Judge Juan Merchan declined to declare McConney a hostile witness, which would have allowed prosecutors to ask more leading questions. Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 1 Nov. 2022 In the clip, Pam returns to the stand, where she's quickly labeled a hostile witness. Samantha Highfill, EW.com, 5 Apr. 2022 Attorneys for the plaintiffs, who called Tubbs as a hostile witness, showed the jury a video of Tubbs leading a group of league members and associates into a crowd of counterprotesters. BostonGlobe.com, 8 Nov. 2021 Frieden eventually declared the teen a hostile witness and allowed Kennedy to ask leading questions. Washington Post, 16 July 2021

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Cite this Entry

“Hostile witness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hostile%20witness. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Legal Definition

hostile witness

see witness

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