On March 30, 2023, Louis Walker, our Assistant District Attorney, prosecutor, came and went over the general overview of trial by jury, and how to prepare in order to win your case.
It is important for one to know what your exhibits are in a list such as evidence, photographs, and physical evidence. Testimony, which is given by witness, can be used once sworn in a court of law. A deposition, is written or oral testimony given under oath in front of a court reporter. These take place outside of court and allow the parties to get a record of a person's testimony, or to get testimony from a witness who lives far away.
Direct evidence, is the belief that proves a fact to be true. Circumstantial evidence, most important in the case we are conducting, gives rise to logical inference that a crime could exist. Witnesses, are usually met before trial to know what they're wanting to testify and explain to them what they shouldn't say, in order to keep our case controlled. Walker explained that is it extremely crucial to write down every question to be asked prior to the trial, to cover all the ground needed to prove your case.
An Opening Statement, is the first procedure in a court of law, and is not to argue case, but rather to tell the story by explaining to the jury what the evidence is expected to show.
Next, the witnesses are called to testify, the order of witnesses is important for your case to make sense to jury. In our case, there is no doubt of death and what weapon was used, there is just the question of who committed the act, and if it was either homicide or suicide? These witnesses will be used to prove evidence of premeditation. Some witnesses that are helpful to have in order to logistically prove your case is witness of finger print evidence, such as a police officer, a medical examiner, lead detective, first responding officer, loved ones of the victim as well as potential suspects. A motive does not need to be proved at trial, but if able to be proven, could hinder extremely helpful.
In a court of law, you cannot call on the defendant as witness, as they have their 5th Amendment right, and cannot be compelled to testify, but a good persecution should be ready to cross examine the defendant if he chooses to.
After rest, The burden of proof is on prosecution, if they fail, there is high consequence due to a human being's liberty at stake. A persons guilt must be proven by clear and convincing evidence, beyond reasonable doubt.
There are 3 key elements of crime and make a case. The victim must be proven to be dead, the defendant must have caused the death, and intention of premeditation needs be proven.
The closing argument reviews what the given evidence has shown, what can be drawn from it, and the situations in which caused said incident. The goal of your closing statement should be to show the jury circumstances of premeditated murder.
Mr. Walker focused so heavily on the prosecution side in a court of law to allow us to use this knowledge to preform our own mock trial for the case we have been working on all week. I am excited to see how this case plays out and to potentially accuse our "defendant" of premeditation for the murder of his wife.
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