Hostile witness - Definition and Overview

A witness who is called by and who testifies for the opposing party or, less frequently, who, when offering testimony adverse to the party who called him, may at request to the judge be termed a "hostile" witness, which means that the witness is then subject to direct questions in the form of a cross-examination.

Though the practice of declaring a witness hostile is very prevalent in television and in movies, it is far rarer in reality.