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Preparing for Being a Witness
A Brief Introduction to your Criminal Court System
- Defendant - Person accused of a crime.
- Prosecutor - An attorney who represents the citizens of the State in prosecuting criminals.
- Defense Attorney - An attorney who represents the defendant.
- Misdemeanor - A criminal offense punishable by incarceration in the county jail for up to one year.
- Felony - A criminal offense more serious than a misdemeanor, which is punishable by incarceration in the state penitentiary.
- Preliminary Hearing - A hearing in a felony case to determine if there is enough evidence for felony charges to proceed to trial in District Court.
- Trial - Evidence is presented and testimony is given before a jury or judge, and guilt or innocence is decided.
- Conviction - Where a defendant is found guilty of a crime.
- Guilty Plea - Admission of guilt by a defendant in court. This will alleviate the need for trial.
- Sentence - After being found guilty a judge may choose to order any of the following for a defendant: imprisonment, probation, fine, restitution.
- Pre-Sentence Investigation - In felony cases, the judge orders a pre-sentence investigation into the defendant's background to assist the Court in determining an appropriate sentence. A presentence report is written and provided to the judge, the prosecutor and the defense attorney. A victim has the right to make a statement in the pre-sentence report.
Testifying in Court
As a witness or victim, you will likely be subpoenaed to testify at a preliminary hearing or trial concerning any facts that you know about the case. These facts and the manner in which you communicate them to the court or jury may be critical in determining whether or not justice is served in the case.
Your importance as a witness cannot be overemphasized. The Criminal Justice System could not function without the reliable testimony of people such as yourself. Our office realizes that it may not always be convenient for you to leave your home or place of business to testify in court. However, you should remember that someday you may be a defendant or complainant in a criminal proceeding and your own case may depend on the willingness of someone to come forward as a witness.
In any criminal proceeding the prosecution and the defense both have the opportunity to question the witness. The prosecutor who calls you to testify will question you as to the specific facts in your case. After his examination is completed, the attorney for the other side will have the opportunity to ask questions relating to the same set of facts.
It is important to remember that you will be asked only to relate the facts to the best of your knowledge. Rules of evidence are designed to eliminate testimony which lacks certain basic elements of reliability. For example, the hearsay rule is designed to prevent a witness from relating facts of which he has no firsthand knowledge.
The prosecutor handling your case will give you a basic explanation of the Kootenai County court system, and will answer any questions you may have.
Tips
Here are some further suggestions that will help you in testifying:
- Tell the Truth. Remember the function of the court is to determine the guilt or innocence based on truth. It is your duty to tell the truth to the best of your ability, whether or not it is advantageous to the prosecution's case.
- Listen carefully to the questions asked you. Take your time and be sure to answer the question completely. If you do not clearly understand a question, ask the examiner to explain the question.
- Do not volunteer information you are not asked. Confine your answers to the question asked. Information you volunteer may be incompetent evidence or may be irrelevant to the case. If you are tempted to volunteer evidence, and neither attorney asks a question that allows you to do so, tell the attorney who has called you what you were tempted to volunteer at the earliest appropriate moment out of court.
- Do not guess. If you don't know the answer to a question, just say so. It is wrong to guess if you don't actually know the answer. If you have an answer that may not be as precise or sure as the questioner might want, you may say so, given your best recollection. Also, unless you are absolutely certain of the fact, don't say "That's all of the conversation" or "That's all that happened." You may remember an important and pertinent fact after further questioning.
- Do not be afraid of correcting a mistake. If your answer was not correctly stated, correct it immediately. If your answer was not clear, clarify it immediately.
- Remain dignified at all times. Always be courteous, even if the attorney questioning you appears to be discourteous. Arguing with the defense attorney or exaggerating, may lose you the respect of the judge and jury. Remember that some courtroom tactics may be designed to irritate you so that you will lose your temper. Try to remain as calm and objective as possible.
- Report to the Prosecutor's Office 15 minutes prior to the time indicated on your subpoena and ask for the deputy prosecutor handling the case. There is limited public parking at the Courthouse, so it may be necessary for you to allow extra time to find parking. Immediately after your appearance, speak to the deputy prosecutor regarding witness fee disbursement.
Confirm Your Appearance
It is extremely important that you verify the date and time of your appearance. This can be done by calling 208-446-1800 the day before and asking for an update from the secretary of the prosecutor assigned to the case. It is also important to let our office know of any changes in address or phone number so that you can be contacted in the event of a change.
If you have additional questions or special difficulties prior to your appearance date, pleas notify the deputy prosecutor assigned to your case, or the secretary to the assigned prosecutor.
Location
Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney
501 Government Way
Coeur d'Alene, ID
(Entrance on the West side)
Map of courtrooms (PDF)
Courtrooms
Courtrooms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Kootenai County Courthouse
501 Government Way
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
(Entrance on the West side)
Courtrooms 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Kootenai County Justice Building
324 W Garden Avenue
Coeur d'Alene, ID
(Entrance on the North and West side)
Courtroom 12
Kootenai County Public Safety Building
N 5500 Government Way
Coeur d'Alene, ID
(Just North of the Kootenai County Fairgrounds)
Courtrooms 13 and 14
Juvenile Justice Building
205 N 4th Street
Coeur d'Alene, ID
(Corner of E Lakeside and N 4th Street)