TRIAL PRACTICESECOND EDITION

LexisNexis Law School PublishingAdvisory Board

Paul Caron

Professor of Law

Pepperdine University School of Law

Herzog Summer Visiting Professor in Taxation

University of San Diego School of Law

Bridgette Carr

Clinical Professor of Law

University of Michigan Law School

Olympia Duhart

Professor of Law and Director of Lawyering Skills & Values Program

Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law School

Samuel Estreicher

Dwight D. Opperman Professor of Law

Director, Center for Labor and Employment Law

NYU School of Law

Steven I. Friedland

Professor of Law and Senior Scholar

Elon University School of Law

Carole Goldberg

Jonathan D. Varat Distinguished Professor of Law

UCLA School of Law

Oliver Goodenough

Professor of Law

Vermont Law School

Paul Marcus

Haynes Professor of Law

William and Mary Law School

John Sprankling

Distinguished Professor of Law

McGeorge School of Law

TRIAL PRACTICE

SECOND EDITION

MICHAEL W. MARTINClinical Professor of Law

Fordham University School of Law

PAUL RADVANYClinical Associate Professor of Law

Fordham University School of Law

LAWRENCE A. DUBINProfessor of Law

University of Detroit Mercy School of Law

THOMAS F. GUERNSEYPresident and Dean, and Professor of Law

Albany Law School

ISBN: 978-0-7698-5533-2 (print)

ISBN: 978-0-3271-8022-7 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Martin, Michael W. (Michael William), 1964- author.

Trial practice / Michael W. Martin, Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law; Paul

Radvany , Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law; Lawrence A. Dubin, Professor of Law

University of Detroit Mercy School of Law; Thomas T. Guernsey, President & Dean, and Professor of Law Albany Law

School. -- Second Edition.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-7698-5533-2

1. Trial practice--United States. I. Radvany, Paul, author. II. Dubin, Lawrence, 1943- author. III. Guernsey, Thomas T.,

author. IV. Title.

KF8915.M35 2014

347.73\75--dc23

2013042409

This publication is designed to provide authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is soldwith the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professionalservices. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should besought.

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(2014–Pub.3570)

Dedications

Michael W. Martin:

For Frederick J. Martin, Jr., my inspiration for the law and

trial practice; and for Robbi, Shaye, and Brynn,

my inspiration for everything else.

Paul Radvany:

For my wonderful family, Kim, Katie, and Jason.

Thank you for all of your support throughout the years.

I also want to thank my parents for their support and

for inspiring me to become a professor.

iii

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Honorable John F. Keenan, United States District

Judge for the Southern District of New York, and Associate Professor James A. Cohen, for

their comments on earlier drafts of this Second Edition, as well as Fordham University

School of Law for its support, which included funding for research assistants and Deans

Fellows, who assisted in the Second Edition’s research.

v

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 CASE THEORY AND STORYTELLING: TRIAL

ADVOCACY BUILDING BLOCKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

II. CASE THEORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

A. A Case Theory Is What Happened and Why You Should Win . . . . . . . . . . . 3

B. Case Theory’s Importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

C. You Must Understand Your Adversary’s Case Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

D. Developing Your Case Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1. Formulate Early and Revise When Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2. Know the Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3. Make Sure Your Case Theory Is Simple and Makes Sense . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4. Your Case Theory Must Be Consistent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

5. Find Admissible, Corroborating Evidence to Show Why Your Client’s

Version Should Be Believed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

6. Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses (and Turn Your Weaknesses into

Strengths) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

7. Sequence and Emphasize Artfully . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

8. Seize the Moral High Ground and Focus on the Other Side’s

Wrongdoing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

9. Shape the Theory to the Client’s Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

10. Never Base the Case Theory on Facts Known to Be False . . . . . . . . . . . 17

III. BRINGING THE CASE THEORY TO TRIAL: THE IMPORTANCE OF

STORYTELLING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

A. Why Storytelling? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

B. Jurors Creating Their Own Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

C. How Do Jurors Create Their Own Stories? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

D. How Lawyers Can Influence the Jurors’ Story-Making Process . . . . . . . . 21

1. Recognize Your Story May Be Built on Fact Remnants . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2. Begin Storytelling in Voir Dire and Do Not End Until Summation . . . . . 21

3. Make Your Story About People and the Way the Dispute Has

Affected Their Lives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4. Emphasize Injustice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

5. Be Concise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

6. Explain Opposing Party’s Motive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

7. Use Case Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

8. Use Facts, Not Characterizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

9. Present Your Story Visually — “Show and Tell” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

vii

10. Deliver Story with Vigor, Simplicity, and Conviction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Chapter 2 EVIDENCE AND OBJECTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

II. WHY YOU OBJECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

III. MOTIONS IN LIMINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

IV. HOW TO BEST PREPARE YOURSELF FOR OBJECTING AT TRIAL . . . 29

A. Be Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

B. Know Your Judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

C. Know Your Opposing Counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

D. Consider the Jurors’ Perception of Your Objecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

E. Prepare for Foreseeable Objections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

F. Learn and Understand the Most Common Objections and Their

Evidentiary Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

G. Recognize Situations that Give Rise to Objectionable Conduct . . . . . . . . . 31

H. Listen for Certain Buzzwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

I. Be Willing to Make Mistakes and Be Overruled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

V. TECHNIQUES AND TACTICS FOR OBJECTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

A. Stand and Address the Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

B. Say “Objection” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

C. Be Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

D. Be Courteous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

E. Be Prepared to Object with Specificity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

F. State Alternative Grounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

G. Sever Objectionable from Non-Objectionable Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

H. Request Appropriate Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

I. Insist on a Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

J. Stay on the Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

K. Only Object for Legitimate Purposes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

L. Good Faith Belief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

M. Be Assertive and Confident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

N. Use Emotion Sparingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

O. Avoid Being Argumentative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

P. Be Aware of How the Judge Is Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

VI. OFFERS OF PROOF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

VII. COMMON OBJECTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

A. Objections as to the Form of the Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

1. The Question Is Ambiguous (Federal Rules of Evidence 611(a) and

403) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

2. The Question Is Argumentative (Federal Rules of Evidence 611(a) and

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403) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3. The Question Assumes Facts Not in Evidence (Federal Rules of Evidence

611(a) and 403) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

4. The Question Calls for Improper Hypothetical Answer (Federal Rule of

Evidence 703) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

5. The Question Is Leading (Federal Rule of Evidence 611(c)) . . . . . . . . . . 50

6. The Question Is Misleading (Federal Rules of Evidence 611(a)

and 403) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

7. The Question Asks Multiple Questions, i.e., Is Compound (Federal

Rules of Evidence 611(a) and 403) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

8. The Question Calls for a Narrative Response (Federal Rule of Evidence

611(a)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

9. The Question Has Been Asked and Answered (Federal Rules of Evidence

403 and 611) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

10. The Question Calls for the Witness to Speculate (Federal Rules of

Evidence 602 and 701) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

B. Objections as to the Substantive Content to Be Elicited in the Response . . . 59

1. Irrelevant (Federal Rule of Evidence 401) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

2. Unduly Prejudicial (Federal Rule of Evidence 403) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

3. Unnecessarily Duplicative or Cumulative (Federal Rule of Evidence

403) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

4. Improper Character Evidence (Federal Rules of Evidence 404(a), 405,

608, and 609) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

5. Improper Habit or Business Practice (Federal Rule of Evidence 406) . . . 64

6. Improper Use of Remedial Measures (Federal Rule of Evidence 407) . . . 64

7. Improper Use of Settlement Negotiations (Federal Rules of Evidence

408 and 410) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

8. Improper Use of Liability Insurance (Federal Rule of Evidence 411) . . . 66

9. Incompetent Witness (Federal Rules of Evidence 601 and 602) . . . . . . . 67

10. No Foundation for Testimony (Federal Rules of Evidence 602 and

701) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

11. Improper Impeachment (Federal Rules of Evidence 607, 608, 609, and

613) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

12. Improper Use of Religion (Federal Rule of Evidence 610) . . . . . . . . . . . 69

13. Cross-Examination Question Exceeds Scope of Direct (Federal Rule of

Evidence 611(b)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

14. Improper Refreshing Recollection (Federal Rules of Evidence 612 and

805) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

15. Opinion Rule Violated (Federal Rule of Evidence 701) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

16. Improper Expert Opinions (Federal Rules of Evidence 702, 703, 704, and

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705) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

17. Hearsay (Federal Rules of Evidence 801–807) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

18. Improper Authentication and Identification (Federal Rule of Evidence

901) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

19. Best Evidence Rule (Federal Rules of Evidence 1001–1004) . . . . . . . . . 74

20. Improper Bolstering of Credibility (Federal Rule of Evidence 608(a)) . . . 75

21. Unreliable Scientific Evidence (Based on Insufficient Data or Unreliable

Principles and Methods, or the Unreliable Application Thereof) (Federal

Rule of Evidence 702) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

22. Improper Expert Testimony on Certain Ultimate Issues (Federal Rule of

Evidence 704) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

23. Improper Judicial Notice (Federal Rule of Evidence 201) . . . . . . . . . . . 77

24. Improper Questioning by a Judge (Federal Rule of Evidence 614) . . . . . 77

25. Improper Presumption (Federal Rule of Evidence 301) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

C. Objections Common to Voir Dire, Opening Statements, and Closing Arguments

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

D. The Ethics of Using Objections for Extralegal Purposes: Use of Objections to

Disrupt Rhythm and Instruct the Witness and/or the Jury . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Chapter 3 JURY SELECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

II. PRELIMINARY MATTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

A. Decision No. 1: Whether or Not to Demand a Jury Trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

B. Knowing How Voir Dire Is Conducted in Your Courtroom . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

1. Judicial-Led Voir Dire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

2. What Questioning System Is Used in Your Courtroom? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

3. How Many Jurors and Alternates? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

4. Does Your Case Warrant a Juror Questionnaire? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

C. Pre-Trial Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

1. Should You Invest in Jury Consulting Services? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

2. Should Your Client Participate in the Voir Dire Process? . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

D. Primer on Understanding the Jurors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

1. How Have the Jurors Arrived at the Courthouse? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

2. How Do Jurors Generally Make Decisions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

a. Jurors Work Within the Story Construct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

b. Jurors’ Cross-Referencing Will Be Influenced by Specific

Attitudes and Beliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

c. Jurors Live in a Digital Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

d. Jurors Are Not Created Equally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

i. Affective-cognitive continuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

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ii. Authoritarianism-individualism continuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

iii. Persuaders, participants, and non-participants continuum . . . . . . . 95

E. Pre-Trial Preparation for Voir Dire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

1. Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

2. Know the Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

3. Identify the Ideal Juror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

4. Prepare Voir Dire Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

III. THE OBJECTIVES OF VOIR DIRE AND HOW TO ACHIEVE THEM . . . . 96

A. Obtaining Information About the Prospective Jurors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

1. The Type of Information You Want . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

2. How to Ask Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

3. Impediments to Gathering Information and How to Overcome Them . . 100

a. The Impediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

b. How to Overcome the Impediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

B. Begin Telling Your Client’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

C. Begin Process of Building Rapport and Showing Jurors That You Are

Trustworthy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

IV. TYPES OF CHALLENGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

A. Challenge to the Entire Jury Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

B. Challenges for Cause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

C. Peremptory Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

V. STRUCTURING THE VOIR DIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

B. Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

C. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

VI. DEALING WITH UNFRIENDLY AND FRIENDLY JUROR

RESPONSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

A. Negative Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

B. Getting a Juror to Admit Partiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

1. General Bias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

2. Prejudice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

C. Silent Jurors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

D. Negative Spiraling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

E. Friendly Jurors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

1. Shielding the Good Juror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

2. Using the Overly Sympathetic Juror to Your Advantage . . . . . . . . . . . 119

F. Ingratiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

G. Bias After Trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

VII. AVOIDING OBJECTIONABLE CONDUCT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

VIII. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

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Chapter 3 APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

I. JUDICIAL-LED VOIR DIRE EXAMPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

II. JUROR QUESTIONNAIRE EXAMPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

III. JOINT VOIR DIRE REQUESTS EXAMPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Chapter 4 OPENING STATEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

I. THE MAIN PURPOSE OF AN OPENING “STATEMENT” IS TO

“ARGUE” YOUR CASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

II. ESTABLISHING YOUR CREDIBILITY EARLY IS CRUCIAL . . . . . . . . 144

III. ORGANIZING YOUR OPENING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

A. You Must Have a Strong Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

B. Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

C. The Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

D. Only Refer to Key Witnesses or Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

E. Anticipating Defenses; Revealing and Inoculating Weaknesses . . . . . . . 155

F. Discuss the Burden of Proof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

G. Discuss Motive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

H. Consider Referring to the Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

I. Consider Discussing Damages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

J. End Strong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

IV. DEFENDANT’S OPENING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

A. Argue Your Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

B. Begin Strong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

C. Cast Doubt on Your Adversary’s and Their Witnesses’ Credibility . . . . . 162

D. Limit the Impact of Your Adversary’s Witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

E. Discuss the Absence of Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

F. Discuss the Burden of Proof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

G. Reserving the Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

V. WRITING THE OPENING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

A. Write an Outline First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

B. Argue Without Arguing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

C. Make It Short . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

D. Avoid Legalese and Words You Will Trip Over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

E. Do Not Use Too Many Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

F. Frame the Issue the Jury Will Have to Resolve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

G. Use Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

H. Provide Details on Important Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

VI. SOME DON’TS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

VII. PRESENTING THE OPENING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

A. Keep the Jurors’ Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

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B. Use Visual Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

C. Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

D. Speak Directly to the Jury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

E. Some Don’ts Regarding Your Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

VIII. SAMPLE OPENING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Chapter 5 DIRECT EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

II. THE BIG PICTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

A. Objectives of Direct Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

B. Preparing Direct Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

C. Storytelling Through Direct Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

D. Witness Selection: Determining Whom to Call and in What Order . . . . . . 190

1. Whom to Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

a. Choose Only Those Witnesses Who Are Helpful to Proving

Your Case Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

b. Too Many Witnesses May Confuse the Jurors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

c. Your Case Theory and Claims’ (or Crimes’) Prima Facie Elements Must

Guide You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

d. Choose the More Credible Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

e. Cumulative Witness Testimony May Affect Interest and Emotional

Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

2. In What Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

a. Let Logic and Clarity Guide Your Ordering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

b. Start and End with a Good Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

c. Start Each Trial Day with a Good Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

d. Place Bad Witnesses Towards the End of Each Day . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

e. Allow the Jurors to Reach Conclusions Themselves . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

f. Consider Taking Risks, but Do So Carefully . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

E. Special Considerations Regarding Witness Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

1. Calling Your Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

2. Calling a Non-Party Eye Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

3. Calling a Character Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

4. Calling an Adverse or Hostile Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

F. Preparing Your Witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

1. Set Aside Adequate Time to Prepare Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

2. Address a Witness’s Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

3. Instruct the Witness on the Role to be Played . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

a. Inform About the Ethical Propriety of Preparing the Witness . . . . . . 200

b. Explain How the Witness’s Testimony Fits Within the

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Case Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

c. Explain Proper Etiquette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

4. Refresh the Witness’s Recollection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

a. Review the Witness’s Recollection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

b. Familiarize the Witness with Exhibits and Visual Aids . . . . . . . . . . . 201

c. Revisit the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

5. Observe a Trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

6. Prepare the Witness to Testify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

a. Do the Prep Sessions Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

b. Prepare for the Witness Prep Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

c. Practice Mock Questions and Answers for Direct Examination . . . . 203

d. Make Suggestions for Testifying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

i. Take role seriously . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

ii. Do not memorize testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

iii. Pay attention to jurors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

iv. Do not mumble and only give verbal answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

v. Listen and take your time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

vi. Be clear in delivery and substance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

vii. Avoid appearing partisan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

viii. Do not take objections personally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

ix. Do not unintentionally qualify testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

x. Avoid self-pity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

7. Prepare the Witness for Cross-Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

a. Tell the Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

b. Only Answer the Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

c. Immediately Clarify Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

d. Most Questions Will Be Leading — Do Not Simply Agree . . . . . . . . 209

e. Explain When Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

f. Do Not Speculate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

g. Be Cooperative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

h. Do Not Look to Your Lawyer for Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

i. If Necessary, Patiently Await Redirect Examination to Fully

Explain the Truncated and Controlled Answers Elicited on

Cross-Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

j. Do Not Grimace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

k. If Asked on Cross About Discussing the Case with Anyone . . . . . . . . 210

l. Listen to the Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

8. Use an Interpreter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

G. Structure for Direct Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

1. Introduction of Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

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2. Building Your Witness’s Credibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

a. Humanize Your Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

b. Show Your Witness’s Firsthand Knowledge of the Relevant Events and

Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

c. Use Open-Ended Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

d. Discuss the Demeanor the Jurors Will Likely Be Expecting from the

Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

e. Reflect Confidence in the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

f. Avoid Appearing Frustrated or Angry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

g. Ease the Witness into the Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

h. Accept Blame if the Witness Is Confused . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

i. Refresh Recollection or Use Past Recollection Recorded

When Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

j. Deal with Bad Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

3. Development of the Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

a. Set the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

b. Describe the Action: Chronological vs. Topical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

4. Anticipate the Negative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

5. Vary the Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

III. THE DETAILS: DRAFTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

A. Drafting Direct Examination Questions in Advance Versus Outlining . . . 234

B. Cardinal Rules of Drafting Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

1. Use Open-Ended, Non-Leading Questions to Elicit the Witness’s Story:

Who, What, Where, When, and Why . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

2. Use Narrative Questions Sparingly and Only with Well-Prepared

Witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

3. Use Closed-Ended Questions for Greater Control of the Witness . . . . . 239

4. Use Leading Questions in Exceptional Circumstances . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

5. Draft Simple, Short Questions with Plain Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

6. Select Language Partial to Your Case Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

7. Avoid Unnecessary Questions and Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

8. Avoid Pronouns and Other Potentially Vague Language . . . . . . . . . . . 242

9. Use and Seek to Elicit Verbs, Not Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

10. Looping the Last Response into the Next Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

11. Keep the Questions in the Present Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

12. Use Topic Sentences to Assist with Topic Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

13. Drafting with an Eye Toward Potential Objections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

14. Anticipate Cross-Examination — Dealing with Negative Facts . . . . . . . 247

15. Conclude on a Strong Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

16. Knowing When to End a Topic and the Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

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IV. LAYING PROPER EVIDENTIARY FOUNDATIONS ON DIRECT

EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

A. Refreshing Present Memory vs. Past Recollection Recorded . . . . . . . . . . 251

1. Refreshing Recollection — Temporary Memory Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

2. Past Recollection Recorded — Total Memory Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

a. Two Common Past Recorded Recollection Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

b. Past Recollection Recorded Is a Hearsay Exception . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

c. Inadmissibility of the Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

d. Past Recollection Recorded’s Foundational Elements . . . . . . . . . . . 256

B. Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

V. DELIVERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

A. Make It Interesting — Do Not Bore the Jurors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

1. Be Thrifty with Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

2. Use Only Necessary Witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

3. Listen to the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

4. Watch the Jurors Discreetly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

5. Make Sure the Jurors Can Hear You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

6. Create Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

7. Use Visuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

8. Alter Your Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

9. Control the Pace of Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

10. Control the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

11. In Important Moments, Consider Having the Witness Speak to the

Jurors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

B. Keep the Testimony Credible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

1. Corroborate Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

2. Help the Witness Relax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

3. Hide Anxiety or Frustration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

4. Show Interest in the Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

C. Get Out of the Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

1. Never Position Yourself Between the Witness and Jury . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

2. Eliminate Distracting Mannerisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

D. Handle the Adverse Party’s Objections Smoothly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

1. Dealing with Objections Made for Proper and Improper Purposes . . . . . 274

2. Avoiding Unnecessary Objections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

a. Avoiding Objections by Forming Questions Properly . . . . . . . . . . . 276

b. Do Not Try to Elicit Inadmissible Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

c. If Evidence Appears Admissible but You Are Unsure, Develop

Foundation Before Eliciting Questionable Evidence and Be

Prepared for an Objection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

3. When Your Adversary Objects, Listen, then Rebut or Withdraw . . . . . . 279

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VI. REDIRECT EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

A. Limit the Scope to Cross-Examination Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

B. Assess Redirect’s Necessity, then Be Concise and Effıcient . . . . . . . . . . . 280

C. Look to Restore Any Loss of Credibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

D. Add Questions to Hurt Opposing Counsel’s Credibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

1. Allow the Witness to Expand Upon the Cross-Examination’s

“Yes” or “No” Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

2. Spotlight Opposing Counsel’s Avoidance of Bad Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

E. Clarify Confusing Answers or Potentially Vague Implications from Cross-

Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

F. Start and End Strong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

VII. COMMON PITFALLS IN DIRECT EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

A. Prepare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

B. Do Not Get Rattled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

C. Do Not Rattle Your Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

D. Avoid Questions Susceptible to Form Objections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

E. Handle Objections Effıciently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

F. Handle Exhibits Properly and Smoothly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

G. Do Not Be Rude to Your Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

H. Only Interrupt the Witness When Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

I. Do Not Confuse the Witness, and Take the Blame if You Do . . . . . . . . . . 287

J. Avoid Legalese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

K. Do Not Repeat the Witness’s Answer Unnecessarily or Otherwise

Respond to the Witness, Other than to Ask the Next Question . . . . . . . . . 287

L. Avoid Distracting Ticks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

M. Never Stop Listening to the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

N. Do Not Let the Witness Omit the Answer or Details You Need . . . . . . . . 288

O. Avoid Poor Pacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

P. Do Not Create an Ambiguous Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Q. Do Not Avoid the Hard Questions on Direct or Otherwise Fail to

Anticipate Cross-Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

R. Do Not Be Rattled by a Judge’s Invoking the Right to Question or

Otherwise Call a Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

S. Do Not Speak to Your Witness During a Break in Cross-Examination, as

Opposing Counsel Will Exploit this Conversation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Chapter 6 EXHIBIT ADMISSION AND THE USE OF EXHIBITS AND

VISUAL PRESENTATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

II. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

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A. Choosing Exhibits to Admit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

B. Choosing the Best Witness Through Whom to Admit the Exhibits . . . . . . 293

C. Admitting Exhibits Through Witness Testimony and “Subject to

Connection” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

D. Pre-Trial Consenting to Admission of Exhibits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

E. Stipulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

F. Judicial Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

III. OVERVIEW OF THE NECESSARY STEPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

IV. STEPS NEEDED TO INTRODUCE AN EXHIBIT INTO EVIDENCE . . . 298

A. Protect the Record by Marking the Proposed Exhibit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

B. Show the Proposed Exhibit to Opposing Counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

C. Request the Court’s Permission to Approach the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

D. Show the Exhibit to the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

E. Through the Witness, Show that the Exhibit Is Authentic, Relevant, and

Admissible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

1. Authentic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

a. The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

b. Authenticate Internet-Based Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

c. Testimonial Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

2. Relevant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

3. Laying the Required Evidentiary Foundation to Ensure Admissibility . . 309

F. Offer the Proposed Exhibit into Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

G. Respond to Objections to the Proposed Exhibit’s Admissibility . . . . . . . . 316

1. Dealing with an Objection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

2. Obtaining a Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

3. When the Court Sustains an Objection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

a. Whether to Argue Further . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

b. Attempt a Redaction or Offer for a Limited Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

c. Offer of Proof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

4. Objections from the Objecting Party’s View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

5. Requesting a Voir Dire Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

H. Ensure the Exhibit Is Entered into Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

I. Show the Exhibit’s Significance Through the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

J. Publication of Exhibit to Jury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

V. EXAMPLES OF EXHIBIT ADMISSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

A. Physical or “Real” Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

1. Chain of Custody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

2. Voir dire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

3. Publishing to the Jury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

4. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

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a. Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

b. Defective Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

c. Clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

d. Car Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

e. Writings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

i. Writings with substantive legal significance: Contracts, confessions,

trusts, and wills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

a) Best Evidence Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

ii. Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

iii. E-Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

iv. Text messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

v. Website information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

B. Demonstrative Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

1. Photographs and Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

2. X-Rays, MRIs, and CT-Scans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

3. Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

4. Audio Recordings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

5. Maps, Charts, and Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

6. Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

7. Summaries of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

8. Computer-Generated Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

C. Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

1. Business Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

2. Public Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

3. Computer Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

a. Authenticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

b. Hearsay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

D. Exceptions to the Foundational Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

1. Stipulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

2. Pleadings, Admissions, and Discovery Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

3. Self-Authenticating Documents and Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

VI. EXHIBITS NOT ADMITTED AS EVIDENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

A. When You Are Not Seeking to Admit: Exhibits as Illustrative and Argumentative

Visual Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

B. Improving Your Use of Visual Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

VII. FINAL THOUGHTS: STAYING ORGANIZED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Chapter 7 CROSS-EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

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II. REDUCING THE NEED FOR CROSS-EXAMINATION BY LIMITING

THE WITNESS’S EFFECTIVENESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

III. OBJECTIVES OF CROSS-EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

A. Objective #1: Elicit Favorable and Helpful Information First . . . . . . . . . 368

B. Objective #2: Elicit Evidence that Discredits the Testimony of the

Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

1. Attack the Substance, but Not Necessarily the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

2. Basis for Attacking the Substance of Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

a. A Witness Must Have Personal Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

b. The Elements of Personal Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

i. Perception: Receipt of data through the senses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

1) Explore Obstacles to Perception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

2) Explore the Facts Behind a Witness’s Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

ii. Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

1) External Factors That Influence Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

2) Internal Factors That Influence Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

3) Listen for Key Words/Phrases Indicating Witness Is Not Positive

About His Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

iii. Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

1) Witnesses Must Be Able to Communicate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

2) Clarify the Witness’s Testimony When Appropriate . . . . . . . . . 378

3. Contradiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

a. Establish That Another Witness Should Have More Accurate

Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

b. Elicit Contradictions Among Other Side’s Witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

c. Highlight the Difference Between Testimony and Conduct . . . . . . . . 380

C. Objective #3: Elicit Evidence That Discredits the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . 381

1. Impeachment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

2. Ask If the Witness Has Talked to Anyone About Testimony . . . . . . . . 381

3. Elicit “I Don’t Know” Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

IV. TECHNIQUES AND TACTICS FOR CROSS-EXAMINATION . . . . . . . 383

A. Cross-Examination Requires Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

1. Read Everything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

2. Make Sure Witness’s Prior Statements Are Easily Accessible . . . . . . . . 384

3. Do Your Homework During Trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

B. Invoke the Sequestration Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

C. Determine Whether Witness Should Be Cross-Examined . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

1. As a General Rule, Every Witness Should Be Cross-Examined . . . . . . . 386

2. Your Cross-Examination Need Not Be Lengthy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

3. A Very Short Cross-Examination Can Be Powerful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

4. Do Not Cross if There Is Nothing to Gain, and You Fear Giving Your

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Adversary Redirect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

D. Cross-Examination Generally Cannot Go Beyond Topics Discussed During

Witness’s Direct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

1. Credibility Issues Are Fair Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

2. You Cannot Strategically Limit Direct to Prevent Damaging Cross . . . . 388

E. Only Cover Important Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

1. Jurors Want a Focused Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

2. The “Control Vehicle” — Know the Answer to Most, if Not All, of Your

Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

3. Questions to Which You Lack Answers Are Safe if the Desired Answers

Comport with Common Sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

F. Do Not Repeat the Direct Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

G. Do Not Cross on a Topic Simply Because It Is in Your Outline . . . . . . . . 390

H. Do Not Allow Witness to Clarify Confusing Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

I. Maintain Objectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

J. Know When to Stop (the “80% Rule”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

K. Watch Experienced Lawyers Cross-Examine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

L. Practice Your Cross-Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

V. FORMULATING QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

A. Outline of Topics Before Drafting Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

B. Draft Unobjectionable Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

C. Drag Out Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

D. Do Not Feel Compelled to Use a Logical and Linear Structure . . . . . . . . 395

1. Chronological Is Not Always the Most Effective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

2. You Must End with a Bang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

3. Avoid Ending with a Sustained Objection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

E. Control the Witness at All Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

1. Ask Leading Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

2. Use Plain and Concise Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

3. Ask Specific Questions That Require Specific Responses: One Fact Per

Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

4. Never Invite Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

5. Do Not Use Adjectives or Characterizations: On Cross, They Get You in

Trouble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

a. First Exception — You Are Using the Witness’s Own Words . . . . . . 401

b. Second Exception — It Is Obvious That the Adjective Is

Appropriate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

6. Controlling the Witness Who Does Not Answer Your Question . . . . . . 401

7. Techniques for Dealing with the Witness Who Answers Either “Yes” or

“No,” but then Provides an Explanation for His Answer . . . . . . . . . . . 401

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a. Establish the Ground Rules from the Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

b. Ask the Judge to Instruct the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

c. Move to Strike if the Answer Is Not Responsive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

d. Interrupt the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

e. After the Witness Finishes, Make a Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

f. Repeating the Question Verbatim Is Usually the Most Effective

Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

VI. LAWYER DEMEANOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

A. Beginning the Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

1. Begin Immediately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

2. Don’t Introduce Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

B. Demonstrate Confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

C. Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

D. Where to Stand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

E. Where to Look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

F. Watch and Listen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

1. Watch for Non-Verbal Clues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

2. Listen Carefully . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

G. Appear Fair and Courteous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

H. Demonstrate Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

I. Do Not Argue with the Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

J. Reacting to Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

1. Temper Your Reaction to Helpful Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

2. Do Not React to Harmful Testimony, Though Seek to Limit the

Harm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

VII. THE SEVEN “RULES” OF CROSS-EXAMINATION AND WHEN,

IF EVER, TO BREAK THEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

A. Rule #1: Only Ask Leading Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

B. Rule # 2: Do Not Use Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

C. Rule # 3: Never Ask for an Explanation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

D. Rule # 4: Never Ask a Question When You Do Not Know the Answer . . . . 411

E. Rule # 5: The “O.J. Simpson Rule” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

F. Rule # 6: Don’t End on a Sustained Objection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

G. Rule # 7: Don’t Ask One Question Too Many . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

H. Rule # 8: Follow Rules 1–7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Chapter 8 IMPEACHMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

A. You Can Impeach Any Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

B. You Can Impeach on Matters Relevant to Truthfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

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C. The Proper Way to Impeach Varies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

D. No Extrinsic Evidence Is Allowed if the Witness Untruthfully Denies a

Collateral Fact or Admits the Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

E. If Impeached, a Witness May Be Rehabilitated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

II. FORMS OF IMPEACHMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

A. Prior Inconsistent Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

1. General Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

a. Choose a Prior Inconsistent Statement Goal: Discredit Witness or

Elevate Prior Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

i. An example to illustrate the choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

ii. Choosing to impeach the witness as unreliable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

iii. Choosing to promote the prior inconsistent statement as

reliable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

b. Don’t Impeach Every Inconsistent Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

c. Consider Whether or Not to Repeat the Witness’s Direct

Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

d. Don’t Ask the “One Question Too Many” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

2. Types of Impeachment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

a. Impeachment by Written Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

i. At common law: Foundation needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

ii. The federal rules: Opportunity to admit only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

iii. Strategically, you still may want to lay the common law

foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

b. Impeachment by Oral Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

i. Similar approach to impeaching with a prior written statement . . . 426

ii. Recorded oral statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

c. Impeachment with a Prior Inconsistent Deposition Statement . . . . . . 428

i. Choose carefully when to impeach with a prior inconsistent deposition

statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

ii. If you have several points in which to impeach a witness, give the witness

the deposition transcript from which to read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

iii. Bring at least three copies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

iv. Know your goal: Discredit witness or elevate prior statement . . . . 429

v. Quote, don’t paraphrase, from the deposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

d. Impeachment Using an Omission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

B. Bias, Prejudice, Interest, Incentives, and Corrupt or Improper Motive . . . 435

C. Prior Criminal Convictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

D. Prior Bad Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

E. Character Witness Offering Reputation or Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

F. Impeaching When Witness Does Not Recall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

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III. REHABILITATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

Chapter 9 EXPERT TESTIMONY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

II. THE LAW GOVERNING THE USE OF EXPERTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

A. Federal Rule of Evidence 702, Daubert, and Frye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443

1. Federal Courts: Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert . . . . . . . . . 443

2. State Courts: Frye, Daubert, or Hybrid? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

B. Expert Disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

III. SELECTION AND PREPARATION OF AN EXPERT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

A. Choosing and Retaining an Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

B. Preparing the Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

1. Ensure the Expert Has Reviewed All Information on Which the Expert’s

Opinion Is Based . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

2. Be Careful About Sharing Privileged Communication with the

Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

3. Prepare Your Expert to Have the Same Demeanor on Direct and

Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

4. Remind the Expert to Address the Jury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

5. Remind the Expert to Speak Simply and Clearly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

6. Remind Your Expert to Treat Questions About Treatises and Other

Sources with Special Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

7. Remind Your Expert to Correct Errors Promptly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

IV. DIRECT EXAMINATION OF EXPERTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

A. Introducing the Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

B. Qualifying the Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

1. Eliciting the Witness’s Training and Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

a. The Unopposed, Uncontested Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

b. The Contested, Opposed Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

i. How to elicit enough detail about expert’s experience and training

without boring the jurors and judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

1) Alert the Jurors to the Credentials’ Importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

2) Prevent the Witness From Rambling with Questions That

Elicit Short Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

3) The Use of Exhibits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

4) Breaking-Up the Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

5) Emphasize the Witness’s Relevant Practical Experience . . . . . . . 457

ii. How to deal with the frequent expert witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

2. Proffering the Expert Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

3. Responding to an Offer to Stipulate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

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4. Reinforce the Expert’s Testimony with Other Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

C. Qualifying the Subject Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

D. Educating the Jury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462

E. Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

1. Use Open-Ended, Understandable Questions with Sufficient Boundaries

That Beget Short, Understandable Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

2. Get Answers That Are Immediately Understandable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

3. Have the Expert Replace Technical Jargon with Understandable

Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464

F. Connecting the Witness to the Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

G. Basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

1. Basis Not Required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

2. Four Categories of Acceptable Basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

3. The Testifying Expert Witness as Spectator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

4. The Hypothetical Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

a. The Pitfalls of Hypotheticals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

b. Avoiding the Pitfalls of Hypotheticals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

c. When to Use a Hypothetical Strategically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

H. The Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476

1. Opining on the Ultimate Factual Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476

2. Framing the Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476

3. Degree of Certainty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

I. Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478

J. Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479

K. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480

V. CROSS-EXAMINATION OF EXPERTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480

A. Challenge the Expert’s Qualifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

B. Challenge the Area of Expertise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

C. Challenge the Expert’s Impartiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484

D. Elicit Prior Inconsistent Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

E. Challenge Underlying Facts and Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

F. Challenge with a Treatise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

G. Challenge a Hypothetical Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490

H. Challenge the Witness in a Friendly or Unfriendly Manner . . . . . . . . . . 492

I. Maintain Control Over the Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

VI. REDIRECT OF EXPERTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

Chapter 10 CLOSING ARGUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

II. REFER TO CHAPTER 4, OPENING STATEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

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III. DRAFT YOUR SUMMATION BEFORE THE TRIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

IV. STRUCTURE OF CLOSING ARGUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

A. Introduction: Start Strong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

B. Thank the Jurors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

C. Connect Closing Argument to Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500

D. The Applicable Substantive Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

E. Tell the Jury What Issue(s) They Will Have to Decide When They

Deliberate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

F. Win the Battle of the Competing Witnesses, and You Will Win the

War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504

G. Review Significant Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

1. Your Summation Must Be Understandable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

2. Your Summation Must Be Persuasive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

a. Maintain Your Credibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

b. Draw Appropriate Inferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

c. Argue Motive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510

d. Stick with Your Case Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510

e. Make Them Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

i. Personalize your client, witnesses, and victims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

ii. Highlight an important principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

iii. Reveal the injustice of the opposition’s case theory . . . . . . . . . . . 511

3. Your Summation Must Be Memorable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512

a. Start and End Strong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512

b. Repeat Your Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512

c. Make Your Arguments Vivid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

d. Use Visual Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

H. Show the Cracks in Your Opponent’s Case Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

I. Discuss Applicable Burden of Proof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514

J. Damages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514

K. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515

L. Rebuttal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

V. TECHNIQUES FOR A SUCCESSFUL CLOSING ARGUMENT . . . . . . . 517

A. Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

B. Refocus on Case Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518

C. Develop a Theme of the Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518

D. Use Analogies with Great Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518

E. Deal With Your Adversary’s Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520

F. Use Exhibits and Visual Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520

G. Argue Any Important Facts That Support Your Case Theory Developed

During Your Cross-Examinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520

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H. Advocate Your Strengths Before Attacking Opponent’s Weaknesses . . . . 521

I. Be Selective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

J. Acknowledge Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

K. Show Honest, Appropriate Emotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522

L. Consider Using Historical Quotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522

M. Use Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523

N. Place Opponent on the Defensive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523

O. Use Persuasive Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

P. Use Exaggeration and Understatement Sparingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Q. Define the Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

R. Think of the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

S. Length of Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

T. Use Nonverbal Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

U. Physical Presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

VI. GENERAL RESTRICTIONS ON CLOSING ARGUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . 526

A. Do Not Misstate the Proper Purpose of the Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

B. Make Sure You Do Not Open the Door to the Admission of Precluded

Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

C. Do Not Misstate the Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

D. Do Not Invite Jurors to Be in the Shoes of a Litigant or Victim of a

Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

E. Do Not Make Prejudicial Arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

F. Do Not Offer Personal Knowledge of Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

G. Do Not State Personal Opinions as to the Credibility of Witnesses or the

Proper Outcome of the Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

VII. SAMPLE CLOSING ARGUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

Chapter 11 TRIAL ATTORNEYS’ KEYS TO SUCCESS . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

I. STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

II. WINNING IS NOT EVERYTHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

III. SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

IV. WORK HARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

V. PREPARE WELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

VI. PRACTICE, SEEK CRITIQUE, AND REFLECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535

VII. BECOME AN EXPERT IN THE CASE’S SUBJECT MATTER . . . . . . . . 535

VIII. FOCUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535

IX. BE A GREAT COMMUNICATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

X. KEEP IT SIMPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

XI. ADVOCATE WITH FACTS, NOT ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS . . . . . 537

XII. STAY CALM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

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XIII. FIGHT THE FEAR OF FAILURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

XIV. BE YOURSELF, CONFIDENTLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

XV. COUNSEL WELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

XVI. BE PROFESSIONAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

XVII. TREAT EVERYONE WELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

XVIII. MAINTAIN BALANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

XIX. STAY FIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

XX. LOVE WHAT YOU DO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-1

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