Prosecution Opening Statement

What does the prosecution need to prove in the courtroom for a person to be convicted of a criminal offence? (2 marks)

During a trial the plaintiff will attempt to prove their case by the presentation of evidence to the trier of fact. The evidence usually includes testimony of persons involved; witnesses as well as physical things such as pictures, documentation/records, recordings etc…

Lastly testimony is the most common form of evidence in the legal system and is spoken evidence given by a witness under oath in court or at a deposition (Universal

In the American Criminal Justice System, there are four key attributes in the role of the prosecutor. There are discretion, resource dependence, sequential tasks, and filtering. The prosecutors are lawyers that are accountable for presenting criminal cases in trial. The United States Attorneys are pointed by state or government, and represent the federal government in courts. They prosecute all adults who commit felonies and juveniles who commit delinquent crimes. Conjointly, the prosecutors have further responsibilities, such as legal adviser of the country commissioners, the Board of Elections, and written admonition of the prosecutors.

1. The witness has first had an opportunity to explain or deny it and counsel for the other parties have had an opportunity to ask about it, and

Cross-examination is critical during litigation. Many cases have to be proven based on solely witness testimony because of the lack of physical evidence. Therefore, the responsibility of a witness to tell the truth relies on methods

“The next thing I knew I had been tasered by this robocop!” I yell across the courtroom at another high school student. This was certainly something I never expected to say, but Mock Trial has put me into situations outside of my comfort zone many times before. I did not think that being dragged to a Mock Trial meeting by a friend would lead me to something I feel so passionate about, but Mock Trial quickly became my favorite after school activity and a great way for me to explore my love for public speaking. This club let me play both the roles of a frail and cranky old women who had been tasered by a cop and a defense attorney fighting for the future of high school baseball player. Neither of these things is how I envision myself, but it became a great creative outlet for me. During my time in Mock Trial I have been able to attend multiple

process for obtaining witnesses in his favor and to have the assistance of counsel for his

In closing the aspect of using better presentation of evidence in court rooms today help with understanding the perspective of the defendant and of the victims in question to the crime itself. Showing the case in a detail way was not possible years ago brings about the question of whether the jurors' had a full understanding of what was being asked of them to decide on the fate of the persons in question. Advance visual evidence should be the primary goal of any case preceding to bring about a

Specifically, in a criminal trial, it is the role of the jury to determine a “guilty” or a “not guilty” verdict which is set in place by the standard “beyond a reasonable doubt” meaning that even with the slightest indication of doubt, the defendant must be found not guilty. This standard places the burden of proof with the prosecution to ensure the judge or

Common law also permitted the prosecution to adduce evidence that was relevant to the accused’s guilt of the offence charged,

During a trial, there are many rules, procedures, and codes of conduct that must be observed. These are in place to allow a trial to proceed more efficiently and fairly for both the defense and prosecution. According to one author, “Police, prosecutors, and criminal court Judges see too much crime, so they tend to see crime everywhere. We need rules to control their conduct, Judges to carefully apply those rules, and other Judges to review those decisions (law-article.net).” Courtroom procedures are important because, without them, defendants and prosecution alike could be treated unfairly. These procedures give a standard format for trials that must be followed to ensure that all parties have an equal opportunity to present their

May and Powles view evidence as ‘something’ which tends to prove or disprove something else. In the context of a trial this consists of information placed before the court for the purpose of proving or disproving facts in issue. Beecher-Monas states that in a system based on the rule of law and which aspires to ‘truth’, the accuracy and reliability of such information is essential. The mechanisms available to the court to determine the latter, centre on the presentation of evidence under oath, cross-examination and the observation of witness demeanour .

Once the jurors had been sworn in, the prosecuting barrister began with her opening statement. She reminded the jury of their role, which was to weight up the evidence in order to decide on the facts of the case. In comparison, the role of the judge was to interpret the law and direct the jury accordingly. Although there was reference to statute when the defendant was read his charge, the remainder of the trial was less concerned with the law and more focused on establishing the facts of the case. The prosecution called 3 witnesses in total, all of which were police officers. Once they arrived in the witness stand, they were asked to swear an oath.

Evidence is defined as any matter of fact, the effect, tendency, or design of which is to produce in the mind a persuasion, affirmative or disaffirmative, of the existence of some other matter of fact that a crime has been committed.(Paul B. Watson, 1986) In a legal sense, evidence is the information presented in court during a trial which enables the judge and jury to decide a particular case (Garland & Stuckey, 2000). There are two main types of evidence, which are testimony and physical items which can be presented to the judge and jury during a criminal trial. Physical evidence is any evidence found at the perpetrator’s