a witness whose relationship to the opposing party is such that his or her testimony may be prejudiced against the opposing party; "a hostile witness can be asked leading questions and cross-examined"
a witness brought by one side, either Prosecution or Defence, but who gives evidence that weakens or goes against the case of the side that asked him to give evidence
A witness who is subject to cross-examination by the party who called him to testify, because of his evident antagonism toward that party as exhibited in his direct examination.
A witness whose testimony is not favorable to the party who calls him or her as a witness. A hostile witness may be asked leading questions and may be cross-examined by the party who calls him or her to the stand.
A witness whose testimony is not favorable to the party calling the witness. A hostile witness may be questioned with leading questions and crossed-examined by the party who called the witness to the stand.
Witness biased against the examining party or who does not want to testify. May be asked leading questions.
A witness who manifests so much hostility or prejudice under examination in chief that the party who has called him, or his representative, is allowed to cross-examine him, i.e., to treat him as though he had been called by the opposite party. When a party calls a hostile witness, an adverse party, or a witness identified with an adverse party, interrogation may be by leading questions. Fed. Evid. R. 611.
During an examination-in-chief, a lawyer is not allowed to ask leading questions of his own witness. However, if that witness openly shows hostility against the interests (or the person) that the lawyer represents, the lawyer may ask the court to declare the witness "hostile", after which, as an exception of the examination-in-chief rules, the lawyer may ask his own witness leading questions.
a witness subject to cross-examination by the party that called him or her to testify because of hostility or antagonism shown by the witness during direct examination
In United States law, a hostile witness is a witness in a trial who testifies for the opposing party or a witness who offers adverse testimony to the calling party during direct examination. A witness called by the opposing party is presumed hostile. A witness called by the direct examiner can be declared hostile by a judge, at the request of the examiner, when the witness' testimony is openly antagonistic or clearly prejudiced to the opposing party.