Once the discoverability of information has been determined, rules determine
how to ensure the validity of the information. These include the form and
necessary certifications of government documents, the acceptability of
photocopies versus original copies, and, most important, whether the opposing
counsel has proper opportunity to cross-examine the information.
Cross-examination is the process of elucidating the truth through the
examination of the contested information by adversary attorneys. The best
example of cross-examination is the examination of witnesses. Each attorney
questions the witness in turn, and each is allowed to requestion the witness on
matters brought out by subsequent questioners. This may take a few minutes or
several weeks, depending on the complexity of the testimony. In theory this
relentless questioning eventually flushes out the truth. This theory, however,
is predicated on the assumption that the adversaries are sufficiently well
versed in the technicalities of the witness's testimony as to recognize the
truth when it makes an appearance. In practice, cross-examination of witnesses
frequently illuminates little more than the relative acting skills of the
examining attorneys and the witness.
Documents are also subject to cross-examination under the hearsay rule so
familiar to everyone who has read a detective novel or watched a courtroom
drama. Few other concepts in law arise so often and yet are so inadequately
understood as the concept of hearsay. The hearsay rule is important in the
medical setting because the admissibility of the medical record into the court
as evidence is governed by the hearsay rule. A basic understanding of this rule
is necessary to an understanding of the legal significance of medical
record-keeping protocols.
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