(A) practice. The interrogation of a witness, in order to ascertain his knowledge as to the facts in dispute between parties. When the examination is made by the party who called the witness, it is called an examination in chief. When it is made by the other party, it is known by the name of cross-examination. 2. The examination is to be made in open court, when practicable; but when,: on account of age, sickness, or other cause, the witness cannot be so examined, then it may be made before authorized commissioners. In the examination in chief the counsel cannot ask leading questions, except in particular cases. Vide Cross-examination; Leading question. 3. The laws of the several states require the private examination of a feme covert before a competent officer, in order to pass her title to her own real estate or the interest she has in that of her husband: as to the mode in which this is to be done, see Acknowledgment. (B) crim. law. By the common law no one is bound to accuse himself. Nemo tenetur prodere seipsum. The principles of which have been adopted in several of the United States, the justices before whom any person shall be brought, charged with any of the crimes therein mentioned, shall take the examination of the prisoner, as well is that of the witnesses, in writing, which the magistrates shall subscribe, and deliver to the officer of the court where the trial is to be had.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
An investigation; search; interrogating.
In trial practice. The examination of a witness consists of the series of questions put to him by a party to the action, or his counsel, for the purpose of bringing before the court and jury in legal form the knowledge which the witness has of the facts and matters in dispute, or of probing and sifting his evidence previously given.
In criminal practice. An investigation by a magistrate of a person who has been charged with crime and arrested, or of the facts and circumstances which are alleged to have attended the crime and to fasten suspicion upon the party so charged, in order to ascertain whether there is sufficient ground to hold him to bail for his trial by the proper court U. S. v. Stanton, 70 Fed. 890, 17 C. 0. A. 475; State v. Conrad, 95 N. C. 669. Cross-examination. In practice. The examination of a witness upon a trial or hearing, or upon taking a deposition, by the party opposed to the one who produced him, upon his evidence given in chief, to test its truth, to further develop it, or for other purposes. Direct examination. In practice. The first interrogation or examination of a witness, on the merits, by the party on whose behalf he is called. This is to be distinguished from an examination in pais, or on the voir dire, which is merely preliminary, and is had when the competency of the witness is challenged; from the cross-examination, which is conducted by the adverse party; and from the redirect examination which follows the cross-examination, and is had by the party who first examined the witness. Examination de bene esse. A provisional examinaticn of a witness; an examination of a witness whose testimony is important and might otherwise be lost, held out of court and before the trial, with the proviso that the deposition so taken may be used on the trial in case the witness is unable to attend in person at that time or cannot be produced. Examination of a long account. This phrase does not mean the examination of the account to ascertain the result or effect of it, but the proof by testimony of the correctness of the items composing it. Magown v. Sinclair, 5 Daly (N. Y.) 63. Examination of bankrupt. This is the interrogation of a bankrupt, in the course of proceedings in bankruptcy, touching the state of his property. This is authorized in the United States by Rev. St. s 5086; and section 5087 authorizes the examination of a bankrupt’s wife. Examination of invention. An inquiry made at the patent-office, upon application for a patent, into the novelty and utility of the alleged invention, and as to its interfering with any other patented invention. Rev. St. U. S. s 4893 (U. S. Comp. St. 1001, p. 3384). Examination of title. An investigation made by or for a person who intends to purchase real estate, in the offices where the public records are kept, to ascertain the history and present condition of the title to such land, and its status with reference to liens, incumbrances, clouds, etc. Examination of wife. See PRIVATE EXAMINATION, infra. Examination pro interesse suo. When a person claims to be entitled to an estate or other property sequestered, whether by mortgage, judgment lease, or otherwise, or has a title paramount to the sequestration, he should apply to the court to direct an inquiry whether the applicant has any, and what interest in the property; and this inquiry is called an “examination pro interesse suo.” Krippendorf v. oHyde, 110 U. S. 276, 4 Sup. Ct 27, 28 L. Ed. 145; Hitz v. Jenks, 185 U. S. 155, 22 Sup, Ct. 598, 46 L. Ed. 851. Preliminary examination. The examination of a person charged with crime, before a magistrate, as above explained. See In re Dolph, 17 Colo. 35, 28 Pac. 470; Van Buren v. State, 65 Neb. 223, 91 N. W. 201. Private examination. An examination or interrogation, by a magistrate, of a married woman who is grantor in a deed or other conveyance, held out of the presence of her husband, for the purpose of ascertaining whether her will in the matter is free and unconstrained. Muir v. Galloway, 61 Cal. 506 J Hadley v. Geiger, 9 N. J. Law, 233. Re-examination. An examination of a witness after a cross-examination, unon matters arising out of such cross-examination. Separate examination. The interrogation of a married woman, who appears before an officer for the purpose of acknowledging a deed or other instrument conducted by such officer in private or out of the hearing of her husband, in order to ascertain if she acts of her own will and without compulsion or constraint of the husband. Also the examination of a witness in private or apart from, and out of the hearing of, the other witnesses in the same cause.