Questions about court procedures (going to trial pro se)

S

SLawvere

New Member
Jurisdiction
Georgia
Hello,

I'm representing myself in a custody matter in the next month and I have some questions about trial procedures that I cannot seem to find answers to. The gist of it is: My partner is trying to get unsupervised visitation with our child and it is my stance that that clearly should not happen, but now I've got to convince a judge of that. Note that the other side has a lawyer.

So, my questions are:
1. If I have a piece of evidence that I intend to show multiple witnesses, what is the procedure for showing it the second time? For instance: I play some audio for one witness and then later on I want to play the same audio file for another witness (audio is on a USB marked Plaintiff's Exhibit 2). Now, if I wasn't going to play it again my understanding of the procedure would be:
"I'm going to play Plaintiff's Exhibit 2 and ask you a question" and afterwards go, "Judge, I offer into evidence Plaintiff's 2" and then hand it to the judge.
HOWEVER, if I want to revisit Exhibit 2, do I inform the judge I want to hold on to it until a later time? Or do I go ahead and offer it and just use my copy when it comes time to play the audio again? Or do I need to ask for the original back to play it again?

2. Suppose I show my partner a text message in which they talk about doing drugs. Am I allowed to ask, "Do you think it would be the best interest of the minor child to be unsupervised with someone talking about doing drugs?"

3. For you lawyers that have gone up against pro se folks, what are some weird/obscure objections you've used to throw them off their game (or knock out evidence period)? I've talked to a few lawyers and that's one thing they've warned against, so I figured I'd ask about some examples here to prepare.

Thank you for any help!
 
SLawvere said:
Hello,

I'm representing myself in a custody matter in the next month and I have some questions about trial procedures that I cannot seem to find answers to. The gist of it is: My partner is trying to get unsupervised visitation with our child and it is my stance that that clearly should not happen, but now I've got to convince a judge of that. Note that the other side has a lawyer.

So, my questions are:
1. If I have a piece of evidence that I intend to show multiple witnesses, what is the procedure for showing it the second time? For instance: I play some audio for one witness and then later on I want to play the same audio file for another witness (audio is on a USB marked Plaintiff's Exhibit 2). Now, if I wasn't going to play it again my understanding of the procedure would be:
"I'm going to play Plaintiff's Exhibit 2 and ask you a question" and afterwards go, "Judge, I offer into evidence Plaintiff's 2" and then hand it to the judge.
HOWEVER, if I want to revisit Exhibit 2, do I inform the judge I want to hold on to it until a later time? Or do I go ahead and offer it and just use my copy when it comes time to play the audio again? Or do I need to ask for the original back to play it again?

2. Suppose I show my partner a text message in which they talk about doing drugs. Am I allowed to ask, "Do you think it would be the best interest of the minor child to be unsupervised with someone talking about doing drugs?"

3. For you lawyers that have gone up against pro se folks, what are some weird/obscure objections you've used to throw them off their game (or knock out evidence period)? I've talked to a few lawyers and that's one thing they've warned against, so I figured I'd ask about some examples here to prepare.

Thank you for any help!
Click to expand...

You refer to the other parent as your partner. That implies a current relationship. Are you still in a current relationship with this person and if so are you married? If not in a current relationship, are you divorced?
 
justblue said:
You refer to the other parent as your partner. That implies a current relationship. Are you still in a current relationship with this person and if so are you married? If not in a current relationship, are you divorced?
Click to expand...
Oh, I'm sorry. We're divorced and have been for a bit over two years.
 
Well, I'm trying to be somewhat vague in all of this on the off chance her lawyer sees this thread. The drugs comment was just an example. To ask my questions with the examples removed:
1. What is the procedure for reusing an exhibit with another witness? (Could be audio, could be a text message).
2. Is asking a question like, "Would it be in the best interest of the child if they were unsupervised with a parent that did what the evidence shows you did?" allowed?

To answer your questions:
1. Child is not a teenager.
2. Ex was court ordered to supervised visits due to substance abuse and involving the child in the divorce.
 

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