A friendly witness is a witness called to testify on your behalf, and whom you may not cross-examine.
A friendly witness should answer questions that promote the examination and provide evidence similar to what they have said before. The friendly witness should not testify significantly different from their pre-train statement or testimony in the court. To prevent “friendly cross-examination” leading questions should not be used until they become non-cooperative.
If the friendly witness testifies in a way that hurts your case, you can ask the judge to declare them a hostile witness, which means that you can begin to cross-examine them with leading questions. According to the Federal Rules of Evidence rule 611 only after requesting the judge that turns the witness into a hostile witness can the lawyer use leading questions to cross-examine the witness. Sometimes the trial court may allow using the leading question to help refresh their memory, according to Goings v. U.S., C.A.8 (S.D.) 1967, 377 F.2d 753.
[Last updated in February of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]