Case Ruined in the Wink of an Eye

In his 26 years as a Los Angeles County prosecutor, Lonnie Felker has put hundreds of witnesses on the stand whose testimony helped put many criminals behind bars.

But he cringes at the recollection of a case years ago in which a police officer, the key witness against a suspected drunk driver, concluded his testimony by giving Felker a big wink.

“The jury looked at me like ‘What is going on here,’ ” he said. “I nearly fell out of my chair. It was one of those terrible moments you have in your career.”

For Felker, now head of the district attorney’s Glendale office, this embarrassing episode serves as a constant reminder of both the importance and unpredictability of witnesses.

“No matter how much you talk to people or how much you know about the witnesses, there always seems to be a surprise,” he said.

The qualities that make good witnesses are often a different matter entirely from the content of their testimony.

They can be Joe Sixpack or a pathologist whose office wall is covered with awards and Ivy League degrees. But it’s not credentials that win over jurors, he said, but witnesses who appear warm and personable. They also look favorably on those who demonstrate a good memory, are well-spoken, keep their cool under withering cross examination and answer only the questions posed to them.

“If you ask them a ‘yes or no’ question, you want a ‘yes or no’ answer. Unfortunately some people feel like they want to explain everything.”

His most important advice to witnesses, he said, is “tell the truth” regardless of who it helps or hurts.

“We don’t want to convict the innocent and release the guilty,” said Felker. “The truth is our main objective in court.”

On the flip side, many cases have unraveled when witnesses appeared too cooperative or responded to questions to which they didn’t know the answers.

“It’s not a crime to say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t remember,’ ” he said.

Some of the most difficult cases involve gangs or domestic violence, in which a witness often has a close relationship with the defendant or fears retribution. These witnesses can quickly turn uncooperative or show bias toward the defendant.

None of this is going unnoticed in the jury box, Felker said.

“We always talk about jurors like they’re individuals. They are a collective body,” he said. “There’s 24 eyes. And between 24 eyes, they don’t miss a thing.”

A flip of the wrist, a pursing of the lips or tapping of the feet can all be taken into account when judging the credibility of a witness.

Expert witnesses also are closely scrutinized. Overconfidence can hurt just as much as ignorance. No matter how great their command of the facts or how damning their testimony, Felker said, a display of arrogance can undercut the most convincing case.

Conversely, he added, it’s important to remember police officers, doctors and other professionals might not have much experience being witnesses and it may be no easier for them to testify than anyone else.

“You never put a witness on the stand without first speaking to them,” he said. “You go over the questions, asking basically the same things you want to ask them on the stand. And then you tell them--regardless of anything--tell the truth.”

But even with all that preparation, Felker concedes, sometimes you can be a wink away from losing your case.