It is a common thing for witnesses to avoid depositions. Either they elude, or they uprightly deny giving depositions whenever required. One reason for such behavior reflects on lack of trust on the court reporters. Therefore the key here is to go gentle with the witnesses. A court reporter makes the witness comfortable before starting with asking questions about the incidence.
Emphasis On The Objections
A good court reporter is not the one that takes depositions in a realistic form. The main focus of the reporters is to take the deposition without holding back any objections. The reporter asks the witness to object any theory or facts, then and there. This, in turn, ensures that a witness does not argue or object to the court decision, no matter what.
The End Hour Is The Best Hour
Most of the court reporters won’t tell this secret to you. If a deposition gets started by noon, the ending hour would be around 4 in the evening. The court reporters in Georgia wait until the evening to hit the important questions. The idea behind this lies in the fact that witnesses often get exhausted by this time. And, in order to bring the conversation to an end, they end up confessing things they were holding back.
The best of best court reporters prefer filming the depositions themselves. The key is to not rely on anyone but you. The attention to detail is an art excelled by a certified and knowledgeable court reporter. The deposition can be further used for studying the body language of the witnesses, getting feedbacks, and using it for presenting in the court later.
The Art Of Maintaining Silence
This one tactic works most of the times. The witnesses are not always prepared to answer every question thrown at them. And, sometimes they know exactly how to dodge a question. But, what they do not know is as to how to handle the silence. A court reporter agency understands that! They try to maintain silence before putting on a new question. When a witness gets uncomfortable with the silence, they go with saying what they weren’t till now.
Deploying A Checklist
In crucial depositions, where the case is complicated a court reporter would have to cover a lot of questions. To make sure nothing gets left out; a checklist could save the day. In case, a witness drops a clue or spills a new theory; the court reporter would have to deviate from the set of questions to find the underlying cause of the new lead. That is why having a checklist handy is important when returning to mainstream questions is needed.
These six tactics certified court reporters are good at. Gone are the times when the job of a court reporter was restricted to typing. Nowadays, court reporters have become a major link in cracking any case no matter how complex it may seem.