U.S. Defense Attorneys' Implicit Questioning of Children in Child Sexual Assault Trials.

The article examines the prevalence, content, and developmental aspects of implicit questions posed by defense attorneys to children aged 6 to 17 during cross-examinations in child sexual assault (CSA) trials. Implicit questions—those with a surface meaning that subtly attack a child's credibility—were identified in 63% of cases and commonly addressed themes such as ulterior motives, coaching, truthfulness, missed disclosure opportunities, poor memory, and other credibility issues. While younger children were more frequently asked implicit questions about coaching, adolescents faced more questions related to truthfulness and credibility, yet children across ages rarely rebuffed these implicit attacks, responding with clarifications or acquiescence instead. The study highlights that such questioning strategies are widespread and may be difficult for children to understand, underscoring the need for further research on their impact and for legal practices that better protect child witnesses during testimony.