Minnesota High School Mock Trial 2007 The Essentials of Mock Trial: Top Five Keys for Each Stage of Preparation

The Essentials of Mock Trial I. Getting Started II. Constructing Your Case III. Polishing Your Presentation

Essentials of Mock Trial: I.Getting Started 1.Procedure 2.Facts 3.Law 4.Witnesses 5.Theme

Getting Started : 1.Procedure and Purpose Most trial attorneys are knowledgeable of the law. Many, however, don’t communicate well in the courtroom. They don’t know how to construct persuasive oral arguments and don’t know what kinds of techniques influence a judge or jury, so they try all sorts of things and take up a lot of time sometimes getting both themselves and their clients into trouble. Former Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark

Getting Started: 2.Facts Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. John Adams ( ), 'Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials,' December 1770

Getting Started : 3.Law The Peoples Laws Define Usages, Ordain Rights and Duties, Secure Public Safety, Defend Liberty, Teach Reverence and Obedience, and Establish Justice. St. Louis County, Minnesota - Duluth Courthouse

Getting Started: 4.Witnesses You have to believe in yourself, that's the secret. Even when I was in the orphanage, when I was roaming the street trying to find enough to eat, even then I thought of myself as the greatest actor in the world. I had to feel the exuberance that comes from utter confidence in yourself. Without it, you go down to defeat. -Charlie Chaplin

Getting Started: 5.Theme The fact of storytelling hints at a fundamental human unease, hints at human imperfection. Where there is perfection there is no story to tell. -Ben Okri, Nigerian poet and novelist Without a theme, you have no argument.

Essentials of Mock Trial: II.Constructing Your Case 1.Closing Argument 2.Opening Argument 3.Direct Examination 4.Witness Preparation - Memorization 5.Cross-Examination and Objections

Constructing Your Case: 1.Closing Argument In Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co. v. Shirley’s Administratrix, 291 S.W. 395, 399 (Ky. App. 1926), it was held improper for an attorney to state; “You killed their Santa Claus (pointing to defendant’s counsel). In the name of God, I ask you to fill their stockings on Christmas Eve night, and I ask it for Jesus’ sake.”

Constructing Your Case: 2.Opening Do You Make Your First Impression Your Best Impression? ~ Sheherazade and The Thousand and One Nights

Constructing Your Case: 3.Direct Examination Look at the story from the witness’s point of view Identify facts and events Identify opinions Identify character and credibility Organize into a story

Constructing Your Case: 4.Witness Preparation Know your witness! Memorize, memorize, memorize “Any ideas, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.” Napoleon Hill, American author of Think and Grow Rich

Constructing Your Case: 5.Cross-Exam & Objections Look again at the story from the witness’s point of view Identify opposing facts and weaknesses Identify holes in the witness’s story or credibility Brainstorm common overstatements, mistakes

Essentials of Mock Trial: III.Polishing Your Presentation 1.Preparation 2.Delivery 3.Listening 4.Improvising 5.Sportsmanship

Polishing Your Presentation: 1.Preparation Review Rehearse Revise Repeat

Polishing Your Presentation: 2.Delivery Eye contact Volume Pacing and Pauses Demeanor & Poise

Polishing Your Presentation: 3.Listening There are people who, instead of listening to what is being said to them, are already listening to what they are going to say themselves. Albert Guinon ( )

Polishing Your Presentation: 4.Improvising Practice Being Impromptu Requires:Rehearsal Research Willingness to Try New Things

Polishing Your Presentation: 5.Sportsmanship A lawyer, as a member of the legal profession, is a representative of clients, an officer of the legal system and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice. MSBA Mock Trial Outstanding Professionalism Performance Award