united-states cross-examination
Is a lawyer allowed to &quot;rescue&quot; his witness on redirect, and if so, when?
<p>A lawyer puts up an expert witness to testify on a technical matter. The opposition leads him through several questions on &quot;cross,&quot; and then concludes with, &quot;So it is possible that X could have occurred?&quot; (X being an event that helps the cross examiner's case.) The witness says &quot;yes,&quot; and means to say &quot;but that is not likely&quot; when the cross examiner cuts him off.</p>
<p>Can the first lawyer then &quot;redirect&quot; with questions like, &quot;So you say X is possible? How likely do you think this is? Why do you think this is unlikely?&quot; etc.</p>
<p>Under what circumstances &quot;can&quot; this be done? (&quot;Can&quot; in this context has two possible meanings. 1) is &quot;legally admissible or allowable. 2) is legally &quot;advisable.)</p>

<p>This is pretty much the entire purpose of a redirect, and almost always permissible.</p>
<p>If your witness has given an unhelpfully incomplete answer, it is not just &quot;advisable&quot; to ask those follow-up questions, but perhaps mandatory as an ethical matter.</p>
