What's the procedure for character witnesses in Family Court?

[FlightlessDuck]

So my wife is getting subpoenaed as a character witness for one of the sides in a custody trial in family court. She didn't volunteer in an attempt to stay neutral in the battle, but apparently that isn't going to happen.

We've never had to deal with custody issues, or court for that matter (well, outside of jury duty), and we're trying to figure out what the procedure will be, etc.

What kind of questions, normally, would be asked?

The other party is self-representing. What would be allowable questions in a cross examination?

Will she need to sit through the whole trial, or just called in for her turn and then be allowed to leave?

She's rather nervous, so any information would be helpful.

 

[Lorelei Lee]

She probably won't be allowed in the courtroom except when she's testifying. The attorney who isdued the subpoena will let her know when to come to court.

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[powellrj]

My DS and DDIL went to court last week and I went with them for support. The father of the children they are guardians for was suing for custody of his DD.

He also was self-represented and the judge wasn't happy. We were all allowed in the courtroom during the hearing. The judge called the witnesses and they all testified and then the judge made a ruling. They were all asked basic questions about the children and after they testified, the judge asked the other party if he wanted to question them.

The judge made his ruling that day. We were in and out in an hour. Had the father been prepared and come with an attorney, it may have lasted longer, but because he wasn't prepared at all, the judge told him to get his paperwork in order before he came back.

Good luck to your wife, it is scary!

 

[chloelovesdisney]

There's no reason that the judge should be upset by that, it's quite common not to have an attorney in Family Court.

 

[Darcy03231]

Where I live the witness is only in the hearing for the time they are testifying. Whoever subpoenaed her will let her know when and where to appear.

Both sides can ask questions. The questions should center around how she knows the people, for how long, what her observations are about their interactions with the children, etc. There may also be questions about drugs or alcohol (if that's an allegation on either side). It's also ok to not know the answer to a question and to say so.

I was called once for a neighbor (wife called me). I liked both parties and thought they both did a great job parenting from what I could see. She did spend more time with the children (stay at home mom), but in the evenings and on the weekends dad was very involved and I saw him out in the yard a lot playing with the kids, etc. The questions I was asked all had to do with how I knew them, for how long, how close we were, how often did I see them interact with the kids, did I see anything that made me question either parent's ability to care for their children, etc.

 

[cabanafrau]

If called as a witness you will not be allowed in the courtroom until you testify. You can remain after you have testified.

Another poster mentioned going to court recently to support family and being allowed to remain in the courtroom. They were allowed to do so because they were not being called as a witness and their family members are parties to the case. Parties to a case are exempt from sequestration.

As far as what questions are allowed, that's not cut and dried, particularly when a party is In Pro Per. How that will go is entirely up to the judge and their mood at the time.

It's true that many matters in family court happen In Pro Per and judges won't have a problem with it. It does get sticky when things get protracted and you start having hearings where a party opponent is doing the questioning. Judges tend to start making noise about lawyers being a good idea -- even when the party opponent doing the questioning is a lawyer or licensed as one.

 

[Becky2005]

She won't be in the courtroom except when it is her turn to testify & just because it SAYS you will be testify on such & such a date doesn't mean you will (things change with court cases all the time). I know we had to wait in the hall forever until it was our turn to be called.

Of course, all depends on the type of trial. Sounds like a custody hearing so it may not be that long.

I was a character witness on a trail that took a week (and I didn't volunteer either!! Got subpoenaed! If I recall, the time/date to be at court was on the subpeona but it was many years ago)....in my case, the cross examination part was awful but it was because of the wording of a question that would have required me to be able to see into the future to be able to answer it. It was a typical as you have seen on TV with the lawyer basically yelling at me. It does seem like an eternity up on the stand but apparently in reality it is only a couple of minutes. Just tell your wife to breathe and get through it best she can.

I would imagine family court is not as difficult as criminal court.

 

[momz]

in my area, family court is very open. All witnesses may be present throughout the proceedings, and usually, they are all there for the entirety of the matter (because generally, these things don't take longer than one court session). The judge asks questions, the lawyers have conversations with the witnesses, each other and the judge, and the witnesses are there to testify as to what they know regarding the facts. Also, in family court, opinions matter more than they do in criminal court where the facts are what matters. The judge has the responsibility of gathering as much data as possible in order to make the best decision for the children.

The judge will be wanting your opinion on the parents ability to parent. Are the childrens' needs being met, are they being nurtured, is there a bond between the children and the parent, will the children be harmed by removing them from custody of the parent, etc.

Family court is not at all like criminal court. There's a judge and lawyer for each side, but overall, it is a much more open forum. There is not a goal of determining guilt, rather it is a matter of making a decision regarding what is best for the children.

 

[cabanafrau]

She won't be in the courtroom except when it is her turn to testify & just because it SAYS you will be testify on such & such a date doesn't mean you will (things change with court cases all the time). I know we had to wait in the hall forever until it was our turn to be called.

Of course, all depends on the type of trial. Sounds like a custody hearing so it may not be that long.

I was a character witness on a trail that took a week (and I didn't volunteer either!! Got subpoenaed! If I recall, the time/date to be at court was on the subpeona but it was many years ago)....in my case, the cross examination part was awful but it was because of the wording of a question that would have required me to be able to see into the future to be able to answer it. It was a typical as you have seen on TV with the lawyer basically yelling at me. It does seem like an eternity up on the stand but apparently in reality it is only a couple of minutes. Just tell your wife to breathe and get through it best she can.

I would imagine family court is not as difficult as criminal court.

That's very odd that the lawyer was allowed to yell at you as a witness. Contrary to what you see on TV, judges don't generally allow that at all -- even when dealing with an adverse witness situation, what's commonly known as declaring someone a hostile witness. Even then judges tend to remind lawyers and witnesses to mind their P's and Q's.

As far as how things run according to "schedule" in a courtroom, even the best-laid plans get smashed to smithereens and plenty of times even the lawyers in the case aren't entirely sure what's throwing things off the track. You'd have to be completely enmeshed with that particular judge and his or her staff to be aware how and why things get shuffled around, frequently with zero notice. Nature of the beast. Worked a jury trial a couple days ago where the proceedings were delayed over an hour at morning start because a juror was AWOL. Guaranteed the subpoenaed witnesses who were sequestered weren't all given the information as they came in at different times throughout the day that things started off quite behind schedule, a delay that only grew as the day wore on. The first 3 or so of the day were told, but I think the others were left in the dark.

 

[msmayor]

I had to testify for a friend once and the process was actually pretty simple.

On the day of the hearing, I met briefly with my friend's lawyer who let me know in advance all the questions he would be asking and he wanted to know what my answers would be. He said he would position himself in front of the witness chair in such a way that my friend's ex-husband would not be in my view, but reminded me to keep my eyes focused on him. He also said that during the cross-examination to keep my eyes on the opposing attorney, not to look at the ex.

He reminded me to keep my answers brief and to the point. That I should attempt to answer any questions with just a yes or no, and offer NO extra information that was not asked for.

I was in the witness chair about 15 minutes.

 

[alex9179]

When I testified, the questions were pretty limited. I was asked about things I was actually a witness to, such as behavior at the beginning, any changes, school. Very to the point. The defense didn't ask me anything, but I think it was to avoid looking like meanies in the eyes of the jury. The questions that the defense asked of my husband were very convoluted and seemed designed to confuse him. He just said that he didn't follow and asked her to rephrase...which resulted in not having to answer them because she continued to wander all over the point.

She won't be asked her opinions. If she doesn't have first hand knowledge about something, she probably won't be asked about it-at least not without an objection lodged.

We were not allowed in the court room, except to testify, until the summations and for the verdict. The case lasted a week, we were there every day and testified on the last day. I think we were allowed in at the end because our path in life was being decided, even though we weren't a party to the case - in an effort to remain neutral. Turns out, it didn't matter that we tried to be neutral. People were very angry with us, anyway. I hope your wife is prepared for that eventuality.