The Importance of a Thesis in Cross Examination
Each chapter or module of a cross examination should be designed to teach the jury an important point about your case. I call this the examiner’s thesis. If done well, if somebody were to ask the jury what the point was of that last series of questions as soon as you finish a module of your cross examination, the jury should be able to state your thesis in response.
And it’s almost always best to find a way to state your thesis to the jury so they know what it is you intend to prove before you attempt to prove it. This is an effective means of sign posting because it lets the jury know exactly what you’re trying to do so they can follow along and understand the questions and answers as they hear them.
What should you state your thesis? As soon as you’ve given the proper setting and context—often that needs to come before your thesis statement—and as soon as you know you have all the facts you need to prevail on that module. If you’re missing certain facts that you’ll need to complete your module effectively, do not state your thesis until you have them locked down. But once you do, and once all necessary setting and context are in place, state your thesis.
