complainants are likely to be challenged on the issue of consent, which is
clearly not a valid means of cross
- examining child complainants. Cross
-
examination of adult rape complainants is notoriously aggressive (Gregory &
Lees, 1996 ; Brereton, 1997 ; Lees, 2002 ).
Our preliminary research on the courtroom cross
- examination of adult
sexual abuse complainants has confi rmed that adults are not immune to the
effects of cross
- examination on their testimony (Zajac
& Cannan,
2009 ).
Although the adult complainants in this study were more likely than child
complainants to resist or give extra clarifi cation in response to closed and
leading questions, other aspects of their responses provided cause for concern.
For example, like children, adults appeared reluctant to seek clarifi cation from
cross - examining lawyers, even when the questions posed were ambiguous,
highly complex or did not make sense. Most concerning was the fi nding that
adult complainants undergoing cross - examination made just as many changes
to their earlier testimony as children did. As with children, many of these
changes were elicited by questions that were leading or challenged credibility.
In light of these fi ndings, it is now imperative that laboratory research explores
the effect of cross - examination - style questioning on adults ’ accuracy.
Concluding r emarks
A number of recent studies have cast doubt on whether cross - examination is
an effective means of obtaining accurate eyewitness reports. Bearing in mind
that the ultimate goal of any legal investigation should be to ascertain the
truth, it is particularly concerning that the types of questions typically employed
during cross - examination have been shown to exert a negative effect on the
accuracy of children ’ s reports. While recognizing that cross - examination is a
Investigative Interviewing in the Courtroom
175
mainstay of adversarial trial procedure, further research is required to identify
the factors that may reduce or exacerbate the negative effects of cross - exami-
nation on the testimony provided by both children and adults.
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