First of
all, GOOD JOB! You’re done with your first round of competition and impressed
the judges! But there’s always room for improvement, so here are some notes.
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Pre-trial:
·
Address arguments to judge, not "jury"
·
Don't drop volume when answering
questions, and don't disregard Court's questions. Answer them.
·
When Judge asks a question, they
will point out a bad case/ fact for you. You need to explain how the fact
doesn't matter under the law/ how the law doesn't apply to these facts.
·
State law during answers, don't just
argue facts. Never say "that's invalid" without explaining why the
law is not binding in this case.
·
Be careful of getting gender of
witnesses wrong. Gibbons is a she. She's our witness.
·
Rebuttal should address Defense's
arguments.
à When judge asks if you have physical
evidence, the answer is yes! They're asking if you have Exhibits. Direct court
and D counsel to the Exhibits you already have posted up.
Opening:
·
Good projection
·
Work on memorizing enough to feel
comfortable moving around.
McCulloch:
·
Remember, it's "May the record
reflect that the witness has identified the Defendant" Only ONE
witness needs to ID defendant- especially if we're short on time (see notes
below)
·
Good job using a sign post of July 4th
·
Rephrase question "why
would you say so?" regarding painting. Answer doesn't match the question.
·
Cross: object to relevance if
defense starts asking about witness being inspired by Evan Shem.
·
Cross: When Defense asks if Evan
Shem is loyal, the answer is NO. HE STOLE THE PAINTING :)
Barron:
·
Address him as DETECTIVE, not MR.
·
Move all exhibits into evidence at
the end “Your honor, the People move Exhibit A, B, and C into evidence."
·
You asked permission for Wit to get
up, then he never got up. Make sure you're on the same page.
·
Relevance object about Gibbons
sweating was okay. A follow up to D's response could have been "The fact
that Gibbons was sweating the following day is not relevant to prove who stole
the painting on July 4th." BUT, likely to get overruled.
·
Good re-direct question. May get an
opening for narrative.
Worcester:
·
"I can't believe it’s worth
that much” You’ll ALWAYS get an objection, so be ready. Here are a couple of
options for responses:
- “Your honor, this is not hearsay because it’s not offered for the truth of the matter asserted, but rather to show motive” (if they need you to explain, it would be motive to steal painting because of debt.)
- “Your honor, this is admissible under the excited utterance and admission by party opponent exceptions to the hearsay rule.”
·
Last few questions are good
·
"So how could they have copied
the painting?" is SPECULATION. Make sure to object
·
Re-direct: No need to ask expert to
explain expertise again- took up too much time.
·
Witness: VOLUME!!! If the judges
have a hard time hearing you, they won't be impressed by your knowledge. Also,
work on getting comfortable with pointing to Exhibits. Good job, but keep
practicing!
-------------- WE RAN OUT OF TIME
ON AN IMPORTANT WITNESS!!!!!! -----------
Keep track of time. Each witness
should be no more than 3 minutes and if you're going to
ask a question on re-direct, limit it to ONE and make it SHORT. We don't
want to run out of time again!
Gibbons:
·
Good job working with time limit.
But in future, when we have more time, slow down :)
·
Good responses on cross
·
Tara: you were right with the
character evidence objection! Just remember, when they claim it's evidence of
reputation, remind judge that they're asking about a specific incident,
which is inadmissible. Judge will probably overrule objection, but you'll show
off to judges that you know the law.
·
Good "Argumentative"
objection.
Cross-
generally:
·
Everyone did well on cross. Now just
work on memorizing questions so that you're more confident.
·
Good job keeping witnesses in line
with follow up questions.
·
T.M. Little: She say coat- just
wrinkled clothes. Would have been a nice opportunity to confront with that on
cross, but overall, good cross.
·
We missed a few objections during
the direct of Ogden. Listen up for speculation, relevance, and inadmissible
opinion.
·
Cross of Defendant: Defendant was
being difficult in this case, but you did a good job of crossing (and everyone
did a great job of being professional when the other team was laughing)
Remember not to shy away from good opportunities to shut the other side up. Ex.
When Evan says "it was the polite thing to do," a good follow up
would have been "It's polite, but it wasn't the truth, correct?"
Because he can't get around that.
·
NEVER let witnesses waste your time
on cross. When Evan said "give me a minute" it was good that you
objected non-responsive and judge should've sustained it. You could also ask
judge to instruct witness to answer in a timely manner.
Closing:
·
Slow down & work on memorizing
so you can move around
·
Rebuttal: focus on the strongest
point in Defense case- Battle of the experts is not the main issue here.
Remember, you only have ONE minute. Make it count.
Again, everyone did a good job. With a little more practice,
we'll be ready for the next round!
