A MOCK TRIAL
A Mock Trial is a competition between the prosecution (or plaintiff) and defense teams, consisting of students taking on the roles of attorneys and witnesses in a criminal or civil legal issue. The American Mock Trial Association sanctions the competition and annually provides case material on a hypothetical issue.
The following are the stages of a Trial
There are four main tasks that make up a trial:
Opening Statements
Direct Examinations
Cross Examinations
Closing Arguments
The order and method in which these are done make up the stages of a trial.
A typical trial will go something like this:
1. The Plaintiff's (Prosecution's) Opening. This should be a statement about their general position and how they will prove that they are right. 2. The Defense's Opening. This should be a statement about their general position and how they will prove that they are right. II. Plaintiff's(Prosecution's) Case first witness 1. Plaintiff's Direct Examination of their first witness 2. Defense's Cross Examination of Plaintiff's first witness 3. (optional) Plaintiff's Re-Direct Examination of their first witness 4. (optional) Defense's Re-Cross Examination of Plaintiff's first witness -repeat for second and third witness- III. Defense's Case first witness 1. Defense's Direct Examination of their first witness 2. Plaintiff's Cross Examination of Defense's first witness 3. (optional) Defense's Re-Direct Examination of their first witness 4. (optional) Plaintiff's Re-Cross Examination of Defense's first witness -repeat for second and third witness- IV. Closing Arguments 1. Plaintiff's Closing Argument 2. Defense's Closing Argument 3. (optional) Plaintiff's Rebuttal |
I. The trial begins with the Opening Statement by the counsel (lawyer) for the plaintiff/prosecution. This can be followed by the opening statement of defense - or counsel may choose to give his/her opening after plaintiff/prosecution has presented his/her entire case. II. After Defense's Opening, plaintiff/prosecution calls his/her first witness and conducts a Direct Examination of the witness. Then, the opposing counsel (the defense lawyer) has an opportunity to conduct a Cross Examination. The Plaintiff/prosecution counsel (lawyer) may then rebuild his/her witness after the defense's cross with a re-direct examination, which can be followed by the defense with an optional re-cross examination. In Mock Trial both sides are required to call three witnesses. III. After examination of the plaintiff's (prosecution’s) third and final witness, the defense calls his/her first witness to the stand and conducts the Defense’s Direct Examination. The opposing counsel (this time the plaintiff/prosecution, has an opportunity to conduct a Cross Examination followed by an optional re-direct and re-cross. This same procedure is repeated for the second and third witness.
IV. When the examination of the defense is completed, both sides have a chance to make a Closing Argument. |
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Opening Statement: This is when counsel (lawyer) presents an outline or summary of his/her case. The purpose is to relay to the jury the issues and arguments that will be relied upon during the course of the trial. The Opening statement is given in the future tense, as in "testimony will show" or "evidence will show." The statement is not intended to be argumentative, but rather to lay out a general picture of the facts.
Direct Examination: This is the first questioning of the witness. The counsel (lawyer) who
called the witness to the stand conducts the examination. Questions must be open-
ended, unless the witness is recognized by the court as a hostile witness, then
examination may include leading questions.
Cross Examination: This is conducted by the counsel (lawyer) for the party opposed to the one who produced the witness and occurs right after the direct examination. During the cross examination, the counsel (lawyer) usually asks leading questions and in some states they must always stay within the scope of the direct examination. In Mock Trial an objection to out of scope on a cross examination questions is not proper, and hence cross examination is not limited to issues only raised in the direct examination. In other words, the judge will decide if the question being asked seems to have a purpose even if it does not seem relevant, and the counsels (lawyers) may not object.
Closing Argument: The closing argument is when the counsel (lawyer) presents a summation of the case. It usually covers the testimony heard, facts from evidence brought
before the court, and legal arguments. Unlike the Opening Statement, here the counsel (lawyer) speaks in the past tense (i.e. "as testimony has shown" and "as evidence
showed") while the counsel (lawyer) actively engages in persuasive speech to argue for his/her case.