Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
How long you are actually there could be affected by a lot of factors.
1. The nature of the evidence and the case. How key is your evidence to the case and is there room for contradiction? This will dictate how long the defence lawyer will want to cross-examine you.
2. Scheduling. It's often hard to predict how trial will actually run. So some parts of the trial could run long. You might have to wait there all afternoon, only to find out there won't be time until the next day to actually get on the stand.
Court typically does not go well into the evening, unless it's some kind of emergency issue. Most court close at around 4:30 PM. The staff and judges want to go home too.
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Point number 2 is especially true. I had to take time off work to go down to the courthouse in the afternoon. I waited around outside the courtroom for a couple of hours only to be told they couldn't call me as a witness that day. Went back the next week, waited around a couple of hours before being called. My actual time on the witness stand was probably less than an hour and I totally did not help the plaintiffs case. Coincidentally, she was the one who served me with a subpoena that I valiantly avoided for months. She showed up on my doorstep one day and served me.