Things to Ponder
Granted, anyone can be frightened out of their wits when being called as a witness. The easiest cases that you can confidently tackle happen to be when you're defending a friend or an acquaintance. But what if you're just a neutral attestant? What if you don’t know any of the facts enough yourself that you're wondering whether or not your testimony will be devastating to an innocent? Of course, that can be easy if you happen to be stoic enough and think that you're just doing your job. But then, most people aren't like that. It's a battle of wills and not just wit. So here's a better situation as an example: What if, say, you're a teacher in a school and you're called upon to testify on a certain scandalous event and a student of yours is involved. These situations are very delicate, and since you're an educator and you're most probably there to help out young minds for the future, you’re placed in a special circumstance of possibly ruining a minor's hopes and dreams forever. On top of that, you have to consider the reputation of the School District too.
Tips to Ready Yourself:
Thinking of the consequences of your answers will only distract you, so remove those thoughts, and just go with it. There's no way of getting out of it, so you might as well just do what you can.
Don't Lie
Never think for one moment that you have a sort of special power of attorney you can use to manipulate the facts. Just answer honestly and things will go well for you. Never answer a question with what you've heard from other people. Rather, give your expert opinion on the student's academic and social performance in class. Never try to guess what the student could have been thinking. Just give facts. Review your own records and other teachers' notes if you have to. Try to remember any meetings that touched briefly upon the student, if there were any. If you don't know the answer, just say you don't know, or you don't remember; it's that easy.
Be Professional
This means that you have to research in advance what the nature of the court hearing is about. Be informed about what the opposing parties are concerned with. Being professional also comes with the fact that you have to look the part too. This means that you need to dress appropriately. Think of going to a job interview or some other major event and dress up just like that. As an example, don't go in wearing shorts or anything too casual.
Be Focused
When a lawyer asks a question, listen carefully and don't let anything distract you. For example, if an attorney reads you some wills that might possibly cause a reaction from you, keep a lid on it and just focus on answering impartially. Don't laugh, lose your temper, or bite your fingernails.
On-Call Readiness
If you are placed as an on-call witness, make sure you are always available. Provide your recent address and your personal and work numbers so that the court will know where to find you.
Discussion with Attorneys
You are not legally bound to talk to the lawyers. If you decide to do so, ask specifically what they want. Although, if you're an educator, its always a good idea to let your supervisors deal with the attorney if you want to keep your school informed of the situation. A better idea would be to have your own lawyer talk with the other lawyers, but that's up to you.
Be Mindful of All Regulations
You always have the right to review any document that is presented in the courtroom. Look to and ask the judge to confirm your rights while showing respect. Stand up when he comes in. If you feel the need to explain your answer, ask permission from the judge and not the jury or the lawyer. On the other hand, if you're being asked to provide student records, respectfully remind the lawyer that the said documents are protected by law unless a parent or guardian gives their written permission to let them be viewed. But of course, if a valid court order has already been issued for you to produce those records, then you have to. Think of documents like wills, and remind yourself that they're important.
Whenever a subpoena is issued, you always have to be serious. You don't have to be afraid of it; rather, think of it as a way to contribute to society and help others to the best of your knowledge.
