How to Write a Witness Statement

Justice may be blind, but good witness statements never hurt your case.

In the event that a crime serious enough to require witness testimony is committed, knowing how to properly take down a witness statement can be the difference between an unresolved (or worse yet, wrongly resolved) judicial process and bringing the responsible parties to justice. A witness statement must be truthful, unbiased, simple to communicate and completely supported by verifiable, demonstrable fact.

If you exercise some basic common sense and procedures, you can emerge with a top-notch witness statement that's ready for even the strictest cross-examination.

Instructions

1. Ask the witness to start at the beginning of his testimony and to talk slowly, clearly and without embellishment or elaboration.

2. Stop witnesses from using big words or dense technical terminology and request simpler language every time you hear it. Most witnesses have never given testimony before and are likely to try and gussy up their statements with fancy language or legal jargon; don't let them, as it will hinder your ability to communicate the facts to the court.

3. Take note of vivid, specific details such as names, dates and physical specifiers like age, race, height and clothing.

4. Press any point of a witness's testimony that seems inconsistent or as though he is unsure of what he saw. If you don't, your opposition will, and the likelihood of your case being compromised increases exponentially.

5. Know what your witness is and is not an expert in, and consider the testimony against it; a casual driver can't be expected to know the exact name of specific car parts, and so any testimony to that effect must be considered shaky at best.

6. Leave meaningless communications from your witness out of his statement such as jokes, opinions, biases of all kinds and argumentative polemics. These don't bear on the facts of the case and can actually harm your position during the judicial process.

7. Cross-examine your witness as if you were the opposing legal force. It will help iron out any wrinkles in testimony, as well as afford a chance to prepare for the inevitable real cross-examination.

References

• Swiss Arbitration Association: Do's and Don'ts in Witness Statement Preparation