Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Parts of a Mock Trial Case

The basic sequence of events in a Mock Trial case runs like this:
Pretrial
  1. The Prosecution/Plaintiff’s pretrial
  2. The Defense’s pretrial
Opening Statements
  1. The Prosecution/Plaintiff’s opening
  2. The Defense’s opening
The Prosecution/Plaintiff’s Case-in-Chief
  1. Direct examination of the first witness
  2. Cross examination of the first witness
    1. (Optional) Redirect examination
    2. (Optional) Recross examination
  3. Direct examination of the second witness
  4. Cross examination of the second witness
    1. (Optional) Redirect examination
    2. (Optional) Recross examination
  5. Direct examination of the third witness
  6. Cross examination of the third witness
    1. (Optional) Redirect examination
    2. (Optional) Recross examination
  7. (Optional) Recess
The Defense’s Case-in-Chief
  1. Direct examination of the first witness
  2. Cross examination of the first witness
    1. (Optional) Redirect examination
    2. (Optional) Recross examination
  3. Direct examination of the second witness
  4. Cross examination of the second witness
    1. (Optional) Redirect examination
    2. (Optional) Recross examination
  5. Direct examination of the third witness
  6. Cross examination of the third witness
    1. (Optional) Redirect examination
    2. (Optional) Recross examination
  7. (Optional) Recess
Closing Arguments
  1. Prosecution/Plaintiff’s Closing Argument
  2. Defense’s Closing Argument
  3. Prosecution/Plaintiff’s Rebuttal
  4. (Optional) Recess
Judge’s Comments
Brief explanations for each of those parts:
Pretrial. Pretrial is a brief, formal conversation between the judge and a representative from each side, intended to handle preliminary matters like providing the judge with background materials, introducing the attorneys, and swearing in witnesses. Pretrial is not timed.
Opening Statements. These are short speeches, giving each side’s their first opportunity to introduce the judges to their case. The goal of each “opener” (attorney giving the opening statement) is to tell their side’s version story of the case and to introduce the judges to the witnesses they will be calling and to the relevant legal framework. Each side has 5 minutes for opening statements.
Direct Examinations. During direct examinations, an attorney asks open questions of a witness who is on their side of the case. The goal of a direct examination is to provide evidence to support that side’s version of the case in way that is coherent and appropriately emphasizes important information. The tone should be conversational, and the attention of the audience should be focused on the witness telling their story. Each side has a total of 25 minutes for all three of their direct examinations.
Cross Examinations. During cross examinations, an attorney asks closed questions of a witness on the opposite side of a case. The goal of a crossing attorney is to extract information that supports their side of the case or undermines the opposing side, and often to undermine the witness’s credibility. The goal of the witness is to maintain their credibility, emphasize their own case, and undercut the opposing side’s case. Each side has a total of 25 minutes for all three of their cross examinations.
Redirect Examinations. These are opportunities for directing attorneys to pose a few (usually 1 to 3) open questions to rehabilitate their witness or clarify supportive evidence. The questions should respond to the cross and should not repeat points that were established during the direct. Time spent on redirect comes out of the total of 25 minutes for each side’s directs.
Recross Examinations. On extraordinarily rare occasions, a crossing attorney may want to ask a few (usually 1 to 3) closed questions to continue undermining the other side’s case. The questions should respond to the redirect and should not simply repeat points that were made during the cross. Time spent on cross examination comes out of the total of 25 minutes for each side’s crosses.
Recess. At the presiding judge’s option, the teams may be allowed to leave the room, talk, use the restroom, grab a drink of water, etc. These breaks are usually 5 minutes, but are set at the discretion of the presiding judge.
Closing Arguments. The “closer” (attorney giving the closing argument) is responsible for using the evidence presented in trial to persuade the judges that their side is the correct one. The key word is “argument”: a closing argument is a persuasive speech. Closings should be organized as clearly as possible to accomplish that task, usually around the elements of the relevant law. Each side has 9 minutes for their closing argument.
Rebuttal. The prosecution/plaintiff has the opportunity to respond to the defense attorney’s closing statement. This short speech is again a persuasive argument, and should respond to points made by the defense, not merely reiterate the prosecution/plaintiff’s closing. Time ‘leftover’ from the prosecution/plaintiff’s closing argument is spent on rebuttal; if no time remains, no rebuttal can be given. Prosecution/plaintiff closers should aim to save 1-2 minutes from their closing for rebuttal.
All-Loss Time. The hard limit on how long a round can go is 3 hours, measured roughly from the time the judges enter the room. If the scoring ballots are not to the tab room before the three hour mark, both sides automatically lose both ballots. 
Judge’s Comments. After the team members delivering the scores to the tab room have left the room, the judges will provide feedback on the round to the members of the team. Do not argue with the judge’s assessment, and do not attempt to explain any mistakes that occurred during the round. Do not tell the judge to speed up or to wrap up, no matter how much of your lunch time they are taking. You are, as always, at their mercy.

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