What is "direct examination"

Direct \Di*rect"\, a. [L. directus, p. p. of dirigere to direct: cf. F. direct. See Dress, and cf. Dirge.]

1. Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end; as, a direct line; direct means.

   What is direct to, what slides by, the question.
   --Locke.

2. Straightforward; not of crooked ways, or swerving from truth and openness; sincere; outspoken.

   Be even and direct with me.
   --Shak.

3. Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.

   He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words.
   --Locke.

   A direct and avowed interference with elections.
   --Hallam.

4. In the line of descent; not collateral; as, a descendant in the direct line.

5. (Astron.) In the direction of the general planetary motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs; not retrograde; -- said of the motion of a celestial body.

6. (Political Science) Pertaining to, or effected immediately by, action of the people through their votes instead of through one or more representatives or delegates; as, direct nomination, direct legislation. Direct action.

   1. (Mach.) See Direct-acting.

   2. (Trade unions) See Syndicalism, below. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

      Direct discourse (Gram.), the language of any one quoted without change in its form; as, he said ``I can not come;'' -- correlative to indirect discourse, in which there is change of form; as, he said that he could not come. They are often called respectively by their Latin names, oratio directa, and oratio obliqua.

      Direct evidence (Law), evidence which is positive or not inferential; -- opposed to circumstantial evidence, or indirect evidence. -- This distinction, however, is merely formal, since there is no direct evidence that is not circumstantial, or dependent on circumstances for its credibility.
      --Wharton.

      Direct examination (Law), the first examination of a witness in the orderly course, upon the merits.
      --Abbott.

      Direct fire (Mil.), fire, the direction of which is perpendicular to the line of troops or to the parapet aimed at.

      Direct process (Metal.), one which yields metal in working condition by a single process from the ore.
      --Knight.

      Direct tax, a tax assessed directly on lands, etc., and polls, distinguished from taxes on merchandise, or customs, and from excise.

Examination \Ex*am`i*na"tion\, n. [L. examinatio: cf. F. examination.]

1. The act of examining, or state of being examined; a careful search, investigation, or inquiry; scrutiny by study or experiment.

2. A process prescribed or assigned for testing qualification; as, the examination of a student, or of a candidate for admission to the bar or the ministry.

   He neglected the studies, . . . stood low at the examinations.
   --Macaulay.

   Examination in chief, or Direct examination (Law), that examination which is made of a witness by a party calling him.

   Cross-examination, that made by the opposite party.

   Re["e]xamination, or Re-direct examination, (Law) that questioning of a witness at trial made by the party calling the witness, after, and upon matters arising out of, the cross-examination; also called informally re-direct.

   Syn: Search; inquiry; investigation; research; scrutiny; inquisition; inspection; exploration.

n. (context legal English): In a legal trial, the questioning of a witness by the attorney for the party who has called the witness to testify.

n. (law) the initial questioning of a witness by the party that called the witness

The ' direct examination' or examination-in-chief is one stage in the process of adducing evidence from witnesses in a court of law. Direct examination is the questioning of a witness by the party who called him or her, in a trial. Direct examination is usually performed to elicit evidence in support of facts which will satisfy a required element of a party's claim or defense.

In direct examination, one is generally prohibited from asking leading questions. This prevents a lawyer from feeding answers to a favorable witness. An exception to this rule occurs if one side has called a witness, but it is either understood, or becomes clear, that the witness is hostile to the questioner's side of the controversy. The lawyer may then ask the court to declare the person he or she has called to the stand a hostile witness. If the court does so, the lawyer may thereafter ask witness leading questions during direct examination.

The techniques of direct examination are taught in courses on trial advocacy. Each direct examination is integrated with the overall case strategy through either a theme and theory or, with more advanced strategies, a line of effort.