She is now responding, as many witnesses do, as if we are trying to trap her. We have never changed our tone of complete courtesy—focused and factual. The change in her demeanor is actually startling. It’s not that she isn’t the grieving mother that she purports to be. She is. But she, like most witnesses, has begun to react defensively to the cross-examination. And the jury is seeing that the once untouchable witness is presenting herself as one who, indeed, can and should be cross-examined.
