The Trial Process

Titles  Defendant- the person accused of a crime  Prosecution- uses evidence to make the defendant look guilty  Prosecution must present enough evidence to show the jury there’s no doubt the defendant is guilty  Defense- uses evidence to make the defendant look innocent or to reduce the sentence  Defense only needs enough evidence to make the jury doubt the defendant’s complete guilt  For the Red Kayak the 3 defendants are ________, _________, and _______

The trial begins with opening statements from both the prosecution and defense  Both prosecution and defense tell a story. The prosecution will tell a story about the suspect as a guilty criminal, but the defense will make the suspect appear human and normal- personalize who they are to the jury. Prosecution will make the person who was wronged appear devastated by the suspect’s actions.  The defense will highlight positive qualities about your client because the jury will doubt that such a nice person could commit a crime.  Both prosecution and defense weave a theory into a presentation of the evidence  Prosecution will state that the pattern of evidence will establish the guilt of the suspect  Defense will remind the jury that the prosecution has the burden to remove all reasonable doubt and point out holes in the prosecution’s theory, especially motive  

II. Presentation of evidence  Evidence is shared with both attorneys before a trial begins. Most of the time, witnesses have written statements summarizing all that they know about the crime. We are treating this book like one of those written statements, and that is why you are writing evidence about EACH character’s actions and motives.  Both prosecution and defense will question witnesses. And each get the chance to ask more questions in case the witness says something that the attorney needs to clear up.

Closing Arguments  After all witnesses have been questioned the attorneys speak to the jury, trying to convince them to decide the defendant is guilty or innocent.  The Defense will humanize the defendant and the prosecution will emphasize the criminal habits of the defendant  Recap facts of the case focusing on the pattern of evidence that supports your theory-  Both the defense and prosecution will use analogy to explain to jury the burden of proof. The defense will point out reasonable doubt (missing evidence- the suspect’s intentions cannot be proven because evidence is missing)  Both end by communicating a possible believable theory- piece together the evidence that you want the jury to remember