HOW A LAWYER CAN TELL IF HIS WITNESS IS LYING

HOW A LAWYER CAN TELL IF THE WITNESS IS LYING

"Sicilians are great liars. The best in the world. I'm Sicilian. My father was the world heavy-weight champion of Sicilian liars. From growing up with him I learned the pantomime. There are seventeen different things a guy can do when he lies to give himself away. A guy’s got seventeen pantomimes. A woman's got twenty, but a guy's got seventeen.  But, if you know them, like you know your own face, they beat lie detectors all to hell." 

True Romance (1993), quote from character Vincenzo Coccotti.

Pan·to·mime (pan′tə mīm′)
noun
Action or gesture without words which may serve as a means of involuntary expression.

Tell (/tel/)
noun
(esp. in poker) An unconscious but detectable sign or movement that betrays an attempted deception.

The following are some of the more common and prevalent tells that most lawyers quickly recognize during a witness's testimony, either in trial or in a deposition, or even just in conversation with them or with the police. As Vince Coccotti would say, they beat lie detectors all to hell.

Body Language (Facial)

Use of hands to cover mouth while answering;

Erratic blinking;

Looking away at last moment;

Touching one’s own face;

Smiling with one’s mouth only, not with his or her eyes or cheeks.

Eye contact?  No, not necessarily!  (Whether the witness makes eye contact or not isn't a reliable indicator.  This is a common misconception.)

Body Language (Other)

Folding one’s arms;

Unusual use of gestures, e.g., avoiding natural gestures such as pointing, but using unnatural gestures excessively;

Nervous use of one’s hands, feet, legs;  "happy feet."

Shrugging; mumbling;

Picking of lint from clothes;

Using hands to dust off the table (or witness stand) in front of the witness;

Sitting with one's body askew (indicating a flight instinct), or leaning toward getting off stand;

Rigidity;  slouching;  fidgeting;

Placing something in between oneself & questioner;

Unusual sweating;  SLN (Sweating Like Nixon); 

When trying to recall, looking down as opposed to looking up;  (Looking up indicates a genuine attempt to recall.  Looking down indicates the opposite, an attempt to plot a way to avoid having to give the answer.)

Showing discomfort with silence between questions.

Content Of Response To Question

TMI; Offering more information than necessary;

Being overly specific, especially with irrelevant facts;

Repeating the question outloud to oneself;

Finishing the answer with a sarcastic, self-serving statement;  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I'll get back to earning a living so I can support my family.”


Avoiding use of contractions;  “No, I did not” as opposed to “No, I didn’t.


Avoiding use of pronouns;  “Gerald & I were walking together and I looked at Gerald and I noticed Gerald suddenly stopping,” as opposed to “Gerald and I were walking together and I noticed him suddenly stop.”

Pausing (“ah,” “um,” etc.) during answer;

Resorting to use of evasive answers;  “Why would I do that?”

Stalling before answering;  Pretending not to understand question;  “What was that now?” or “Repeat that?” etc.

Pretending not to have heard question;  “I’m sorry, were you talking to me?” or  “Is that even a question?”

Expressing concern about significance of question;  “I’m not sure I know what you’re driving at,” etc.

Use of scripted answers;

Use of unusual words;

Mispronouncing words, especially easy words that are not usually mispronounced, and then, not attempting to correct oneself;

Finding the need to explain every discrepancy;

Needing to justify one’s own inability to remember;  (“I don’t remember.  I mean, how could I?  It’s been over a year now.”)

Attempting to justify one’s own unusual conduct;  (“I'd have never stolen those jeans.  I hate people who wear expensive jeans.”)

Unusual emphasis on honesty; (“In all honesty, ” “To the best of my recollection,” “You’ve got to believe me,” “To tell you the truth,” etc.)

Claiming truthfulness; (e.g., “I’m a very honest person.  Just ask my friends.”)

Using oaths, “I swear on my child’s life.” 

When confronted with an implausibility,  “Well, that’s not the way I remember it.” 

Speech

Volume falls off at end of answer;  Change in pitch;  Rate of speech;

Throat clearing, cough, sniffles.

Attitude

Defensiveness at being asked the question;  ("What exactly are you trying to accuse me of, anyway?")

Attempt to change subject, especially to a topic that interests many people; 

Expression of relief at a change of subject.