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Thank you, Senior Constable. No further questions, Your Honour.
MAGISTRATE: Thank you, Sergeant. Just wait there, please.
-Ms Duncan? -Yes, Your Honour.
Do you wish to cross-examine the witness?
Yes, Your Honour.
Cross-examination - that's the legal term
for questioning the witness for the other side.
So in my case, that's the police officer,
so it was really important to remember what he had said.
Stick to the facts, but try and raise some doubt
or find something that doesn't make sense.
Right, then, Ms Duncan, please proceed.
Senior Constable Walsh,
you say that you saw me with a mobile phone to my ear
when my vehicle was stopped at traffic lights
on Campbell Street.
-Is that correct? -Yes, that's correct.
Would it be fair to say that if you were so close to my vehicle
you would be able to see the size and the colour of the mobile phone
that you say I was allegedly holding?
Possibly.
But in your notes, you make no mention
of any of the details of this phone that you believe I was holding.
-Ms Duncan, what's the question? -The question?
(STAMMERS)
The question is can you describe the phone that you say I was holding?
The magistrate reminded me
that I couldn't just comment on the police officer's evidence.
Whatever point I wanted to make, I had to phrase it as a question.
Sorry, Your Honour.
Senior Constable Walsh, you didn't see me with a mobile phone to my ear
because if you had seen me you would be able to describe
the colour or the size of the phone that I was holding.
Is that not true?
I saw you with your hand to your ear.
(LOUDLY) That's right!
You saw me with my hand to my ear to scratch my ear,
not to hold a mobile phone.
Ms Duncan, please. We can hear you quite well enough.
-You don't have to raise your voice. -Sorry, Your Honour.
Let Senior Constable Walsh
finish answering the question first, please.
You can clarify any of his comments afterwards.
Sorry, Your Honour.
Ms Duncan, can you please repeat the question?
It was hard to remain calm
when I was cross-examining the police officer.
I don't normally get cranky with people.
Well, yeah, maybe I do.
But, um, I wasn't angry with the police officer.
I was just frustrated.
But the main thing is to remember, "Don't take it personally."
Senior Constable Walsh, do you think it is possible
that what you saw at 3:39pm on 2 April 2013,
when my vehicle was stopped at lights at Campbell Street
was me scratching my ear?
No, I do not.
But you cannot describe the colour or the type of the phone
you say I was holding - why not?
I believe your hand was covering the phone at that stage.
At that stage?
And at what stage did you see the phone allegedly?
Yep, I found myself using legal language like 'allegedly'.
Once or twice, the magistrate would interrupt me
to tell me that I'd already asked that question so I should move on.
When you plan on getting certain answers and they don't admit to it
it can get pretty frustrating
and then you end up repeating yourself,
and the chances are if you ask the same questions
you're gonna get the same answers.
I have no further questions, Your Honour.
Thank you, Ms Duncan.
Overall, I think I did OK, though.
The lawyer I spoke to said that all you've got to do
is raise some doubt about their evidence.
You raise enough doubt and they can't prove the offence.