Now that you have received your assigned
case, and as a group have chosen your individual roles, it's time to
get started on your speech or testimony.
If you
have drawn the card of lead attorney
(whether prosecution or defense) you will be delivering the opening
statements to the jury (me) and questioning the witnesses. If you are
the secondary
attorney, you will be
delivering your teams closing arguments - in which (lest you think you
got the "easy job") you will address the other sides case so that you
can best rebut any arguments they have made. All attorneys are to dress
appropriately to their role - business attire required.
If you
are one of the two witnesses
for your side, you will be testifying as the lead attorney for your
side questions you (unlike an actual court of law, there will be no
cross-examination of you from the other sides attorney - they can
question statements you made or facts you brought up in their closing
arguments). You CANNOT make up facts that weren't in your novel. Your
relationship to the character on trial or the victim must remain as it
was written. But, you can interpret "hazy" facts - since many of these
novels were told in "first-person" by a character not you, tell us what
you really thought of a given situation, conversation, or action. You
are to dress and act as your group interprets your character would
have.
WHERE
THE WORK BEGINS:
Prosecuting
Attorneys: Both the lead and
secondary attorneys should visit the Monmouth County Prosecutors
website. Specifically, this link will take you to a Kids FAQs (frequently
asked questions) page about the job of a prosecutor. Pay special
attention to "What is a prosecution" and "Are some crimes more serious
than others." The lead attorney should explain in the opening statement
(using terms from "What is a prosecution") how this case why built and
why the accused is being prosecuted. The secondary attorney should
explain the degree of the crime and the possible sentence (as from
"more serious than others") in thier closing.
Defense
Attorneys: Both the lead and
secondary attorneys should visit the Criminal Defense Law FAQs
site. The link will take you to a page of FAQs (frequently
asked questions)
about criminal defense law. A series of terms, like "crime of passion"
and "reasonable doubt" are defined here. I expect both the secondary
and lead attorney to use two
of
these terms in their opening
and closing arguments, and they CANNOT use the same terms.
Witnesses
1 & 2: First, visit
this page on the Iowa Bar Website.
It is entitled "So You're Going to be a Witness: Tips to Help You
Prepare." On it, you will find a list of 8 Rules of being a good
witness. It's not a long read, and very informative. I expect you to
stick to these rules as you "testify" and will grade you down if you do
not.
ALL
GROUP MEMBERS: Lastly, before
you being drawing up your speeches and testimony, everyone in your
group should visit the Superior
Court of California website. The
link will take you to a page entitled "Getting Ready for a Trial, the
Last 100 Days." Obviously, you have a week and not 100 days to prepare.
However, read through the list which covers topics like pleadings,
discovery, and expert witnesses. These terms will help you in your case
and raise your grade if you use them correctly throughout your trial.
