Selecting witnesses for an Evidentiary Hearing or Trial is an important phase in presenting information to the Court.
Why are witnesses necessary?
During an Evidentiary Hearing or Trial, each Party presents their best case to the Court through testimony and evidence. Testimony is when witnesses, including the Parties, are sworn to tell the truth and then answer questions presented by both sides. The Party who called the witness asks the questions first and then the other side is able to ask questions related to the witness’ testimony.
In almost all family law cases, both parents testify. Witnesses are called to provide additional information to the Court. Although not required, witness testimony can often be helpful especially if the witness is neutral which means not aligned with one parent.
A neutral witness may be a Party’s best way to present information to the Court. The Court has to weigh credibility of witnesses and a neutral witness is many times more likely to give testimony which does not align with either parent. This is helpful to the Court. Sometimes this may include other parents, school staff, doctors, etc. To determine whether witnesses may be necessary, determine if anyone other than a Party has information related to a best interest factor as defined by NRS § 125C.0035 (4).
How to select witnesses?
When you are trying to build your case, think about people who may have personal knowledge that relates to the best interest factors pursuant to NRS § 125C.0035 (4). The witness should have personal knowledge. Personal knowledge means that the witness has not received information from a source but has the information first-hand by hearing something, seeing something, etc.
An example may be the level of conflict between the parents: a witness may have been present at a child exchange, saw the parents interacting and heard a parent making inappropriate comments such as name calling.
An example may be regarding domestic violence: a witness may have been present to see a physical altercation between the parents. The witness needs to be able to recall the date, time and location of the interaction plus be able to describe what was witnessed.
In our office, we often ask proposed witnesses to put together a Declaration which goes over their first-hand account of information that they can provide during testimony. We do this because it assists the attorneys in creating questions for the witness to ensure that the important information is provided to the Court through testimony.
What information is provided to the other side?
When disclosing witnesses, you have to provide the name, address and telephone number for each witness, and then a couple of sentences about what the witness is able to testify about during the Evidentiary Hearing or Trial.
