Which objection is used when a witness seems to be evading the answer?

Which objection is used when a witness seems to be evading the answer?

• A. Nonresponsive
• B. Narrating
• C. Lack of Personal Knowledge
• D. Asked and Answered

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is keeping testimony directly tied to the question asked. When a witness seems to evade or dodge the question, you raise a nonresponsive objection because the answer isn’t addressing what was asked. The goal of this objection is to push the witness to give a direct, relevant response, and if needed, have the judge remind the witness to answer or have the question re-posed. This helps keep the record clear and the trial focused. A quick contrast helps: some situations involve a witness giving a long story or unrelated background—that’s where a narrative or storytelling objection might come into play. The other two options don’t fit evasion as neatly: lack of personal knowledge is about the witness not having firsthand information to testify about, and asked and answered is raised when the same question has already been asked and answered.

The main idea here is keeping testimony directly tied to the question asked. When a witness seems to evade or dodge the question, you raise a nonresponsive objection because the answer isn’t addressing what was asked. The goal of this objection is to push the witness to give a direct, relevant response, and if needed, have the judge remind the witness to answer or have the question re-posed. This helps keep the record clear and the trial focused.

A quick contrast helps: some situations involve a witness giving a long story or unrelated background—that’s where a narrative or storytelling objection might come into play. The other two options don’t fit evasion as neatly: lack of personal knowledge is about the witness not having firsthand information to testify about, and asked and answered is raised when the same question has already been asked and answered.