 Step-By-Step Guide
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Step-By-Step Guide
Prepare for the Mark Lawson Trial
Mark Lawson has been charged with the murder of his wife and you have been called to testify at the trial. K.C. Hammond wants you to prepare for your day in court.
- Plan how you will explain your theory to the jury.
- Complete a final version of your Crime Scene Diagram and prepare any other visuals that you want to support your testimony.
- Help the attorneys on our side by preparing to defend your conclusions under cross examination.
- And then come up with questions to cast doubt on the opposition’s theory.
Plan Your Testimony
Make a plan to clearly communicate your theory about the Lawson case to the jury in a way that convinces them to see it from your perspective.
- Decide on an approach that you think will be the most persuasive to the jury. Consider the following tips (or come up with your own) for communicating your position to the jury:
 Present the initial testimony as a team of experts. Each team member is responsible for making part of the presentation and for fielding some questions during cross examination.
Think of ways to illustrate key points from your testimony. For example, you may:
- Use your Crime Scene Diagram to visually communicate your theory about what happened to Linda Lawson.
- Use photographs.
- Prepare a reenactment of the events leading to Linda Lawson’s death.
Keep in mind that the opposing counsel will cross examine you following your testimony. Anticipate likely questions and avoid making statements that may be discredited or that may reveal weaknesses in your theory.
- Create a written plan for your testimony. Your plan can be done in whatever form you find most helpful - - perhaps an outline, a script, a narrative description. Keep in mind, your plan will eventually be shared with the opposing legal team in preparation for trial. So, your plan should be well organized and professional, reflecting all the key points you will deliver in the oral testimony.
Prepare Demonstrative Evidence
Demonstrative evidence illustrates or helps explain oral testimony. Examples of demonstrative evidence include:
- scale models
- maps, charts, diagrams, and drawings
- police composites, mug shots, sketches
- photographs
- microscopic enlargements (e.g., to illustrate internal organ or tissue damage)
- computer reconstruction or animation (e.g., to demonstrate how an intruder entered the victim’s house)
- live or videotaped reenactments
- scientific tests (e.g., lab results)
In Task 1.2 Diagram the Crime Scene, you created your first draft of your Crime Scene Diagram and used it to help you think through the facts of the Lawson case. In your court testimony, you should use your diagram to communicate your theory to the jury about what happened to Linda Lawson.
- Review your Crime Scene Diagram as you prepare your testimony and make any updates to ensure that it reflects earlier feedback from your mentor, looks professional, will be easily understood by the jury, and supports the main points that you want to communicate.
Consider how you want to use the diagram during your testimony:
- What are the most important points that you want to communicate to the jury?
- How will your diagram help you clearly explain those points?
- Create any other demonstrative evidence to help you clearly communicate your position in court. Consider the list of examples above and prepare any additional visual aids that will support your testimony.
Your demonstrative evidence will be shared with the opposing legal team in preparation for trial.
Prepare for Cross Examination
After your testimony, the attorneys for the opposition will try to cast doubt on your theory about the Lawson case.
- Draft a list of questions you anticipate the opposition asking during cross examination. You may want to brainstorm ideas by:
- Referring to your case materials:
- The example questions attached to K.C. Hammond’s email to get a sense of the type of questions you can expect.
- Your completed Progress Report
- Your planned testimony
- Identifying the key conclusions and interpretations of fact that are critical to your theory.
- What questions might be asked to cast doubt on these conclusions and interpretations?
- Identifying the weaker points in your argument.
- Are there facts that could be interpreted differently?
- Are there conclusions that are not strongly supported by evidence?
- Prepare answers to each of the questions you have identified. Make sure your responses defend your key conclusions about what happened to Linda Lawson.
If you have difficulty answering the questions convincingly, you might revisit your approach for your planned testimony. Take time to think about how you can introduce particularly challenging issues as part of your own testimony. By bringing up such issues before the cross examination phase, you can shape the way the jury gets introduced to them. You are also less likely to be “caught off guard” when the issues come up later during cross examination.
Review your work
- Did you make a detailed plan for your testimony?
- Did you finalize your Crime Scene Diagram and prepare any additional visual aids to use as demonstrative evidence to help you communicate your theory in court?
- Did you write answers to the questions that you expect to be asked about your testimony?
Submit your work
- Make sure all team members sign off on your work including your prepared testimony, demonstrative evidence, and prepared Q & A for cross examination.
- Submit your work to your mentor. Review the checklist located in the Submit Your Work section of this task.
Note about revisions:
Based on the feedback you receive from your mentor, you may revise and resubmit your deliverables as needed. However, at this point you can no longer change your basic conclusions about the case. That is, if you have taken the position that Linda Lawson committed suicide, you must stick with that position. Any revisions should focus on solidifying your testimony and supporting materials.
Review the Opposition’s Case
At trial, the opposing counsel will present a contrasting story of the events leading to Linda Lawson’s death. Prior to this, they will provide you with the testimony and demonstrative evidence prepared by the witness(es) for their side, which you can use to help the attorneys on your own side. They have asked you to develop questions for them that they can use to cross examine the expert witnesses for the other side.
- Review the witness testimony and demonstrative evidence provided by opposing counsel. As you analyze the materials, brainstorm questions that the attorneys on your side can use to discredit or cast doubt on the opposition’s theory.
As you analyze the testimony try to:
- Identify the weak points or errors in the opposition’s argument. Are there facts that could be interpreted differently? Are there conclusions that are not strongly supported by evidence?
- Identify any inconsistencies or contradictions within the opposition’s prepared testimony or between the testimony and the demonstrative evidence. What questions can you ask to bring these contradictions to the attention of the jury?
- Identify portions of your own case where the opposition agrees with your side. Ask questions that confirm your side’s position and ultimately helps your case.
- Based on the results of your brainstorming, prepare a list of questions for the attorney(s) on your side to draw from when cross examining the opposition.
Submit your work
- Make sure all team members sign off on your list of questions.
- Submit your work to your mentor. Review the checklist located in the Submit Your Work section of this task.
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