Why does a courtroom witness who responds to a direct question with an evasive or tangentially related statement risk being held in contempt by the judge?

💡 Explanation

A witness risks contempt because an evasive answer violates Grice's maxims of cooperative conversation, particularly relevance and quantity. The judge expects a direct answer to the question; therefore, a failure to provide that answer implicates a lack of cooperation, rather than other communicative failures.

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