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When the judge says objection sustained during the course of trial can attorney turn around
and ask the judge to reconsider that decision? Would you like to learn the answer? Come join
me as I share with you this great information. Hi. I'm Gerry Oginski. I'm a New York medical
malpractice and personal injury trial attorney practicing law here in the state of New York.
So imagine this scenario. We're at trial and I ask the witness a question. The defense
jumps up and says, Objection, Your Honor! The judge turns to me and says Objection Sustained!
Which means, Mr. Oginski counselor, you cannot ask that question and the witness is not to
answer the question. And then typically I would then ask a different question. But can
I ask the judge to reconsider his decision? The answer is I certainly can. Will I be successful?
In all likelihood, I won't and here's why. The judge has now made an immediate, snap
decision on whether or not I can ask a particular question and whether the witness can answer
the question. I now turn around and ask Your Honor, I ask you to reconsider that decision
and let me tell you why. In all likelihood, this judge is not going to allow me an opportunity
to give an explanation about why this witness should be allowed to answer this particular
question, especially in front of the jury. So one of two things will happen: either the
judge will immediately say absolutely not, move on or the judge may say alright counselor,
let's hear your explanation either on a sidebar (which means off to the side, quietly so the
jury doesn't hear it) or he'll ask the jury to leave the courtroom so now we can have
oral argument on the record about exactly why I think the question should be asked and
why the witness should answer it. So why do I share this great information with you? I
share it with you just to give you an insight and an understanding into what goes during
the litigation process, especially during trial, here in the state of New York. You
know, chances are you probably have your own questions about your own matter. And if your
matter happened in New York and you do have legal questions, what I encourage you to do
is pick up the phone and call me. I can answer your legal questions. I answer questions like
this every single day and I welcome your call. You can reach me at 516-487-8207 or by email
at lawmed10@yahoo.com. I'm Gerry Oginski, here in New York. Thanks so much for watching.