Lawyers

Lawyers' Assignment Before Trial

The lawyers easily have the most work to do out of all the parts. Do not assign these parts to any student who doesn't want to do it. In saying that, the good news is that usually the students think that all the lawyers do is yell, "I OBJECT!" and when I tell them that they get to object in court suddenly I have flocks of students signing up for the job. The lawyers must, must, must be able to work together as team and be ready to do a fair amount of public speaking. I have had the quietest of the quiet and the loudest of the loud take on the role of a lawyer. Here is what I have learned in order to keep your lawyers motivated and working through their workload.

1. There are four main tasks the lawyers must work on before trial begins: Know the events of Harpers Ferry inside and out, prepare questions for direct and cross examination, learn how to effectively object, and write an effective opening and closing statement. First, assign lawyers and witnesses pairings (both sides because of cross-examination). A defense lawyer will have at least one defense witness to question as well as one prosecution witness to cross-examine. Each lawyer will meet with their witnesses from their own team and from the other side later on. Once you've assigned the pairings, they don't need to meet for several class periods.

2. Lawyers need to start by understanding what happened at Harpers Ferry. Have them begin by reading the Smithsonian summary and the other background resources. Have the lawyers work together as a team to create a timeline of the events of that night using the Timeline document. I also show them Harpers Ferry on Google Earth and provide the map below so they can visualize how and where the raid took place. Once the lawyers have a solid understanding of these events, then they can meet with their witness and review the Witness Statement.

3. Witnesses will present their Witness Statement that details exactly what they saw, what they did, etc. during the events of Harpers Ferry to their assigned lawyer on their team. You must stress that a witness can only testify on the facts of the case, meaning they cannot exaggerate, assume, guess, or lie on the stand. Believe me, they get invested and they want to win the case for their side...talk to them about this beforehand so there are no issues on the day of trial. The lawyers want to go over the Witness Statement with a fine-toothed comb and start writing down what questions the think they will ask during direct examination.

4. Writing solid questions to ask the witness is a critical strategy for the lawyer teams. This is when they need to start reviewing the objections. I have a wonderful guest speaker who is a lawyer come in and work with the lawyers on what objections are, the differences in the various objections, how to object, and how to craft really good questions for trial. Once the lawyers understand how objections work, their questions will become significantly stronger because they don't want the other side to be able to object and have the question be "thrown out" by the judge's ruling.

5. An issue for you to consider - In real court, the prosecution and defense have equal access to evidence submitted in court. There is no evidence in this mock trial, only witness testimony. (If you want to add in an evidence element, go for it!) That leaves you with a decision to give both teams equal access to witness testimony. Should the defense lawyers have all the links and documents of the prosecution witnesses from the get go? It's your decision. What I have found is the best way for my group of students is to withhold the other side's testimonies until a few days before the trial. There are a few reasons for this. First, the defense lawyers need to focus on their own defense witnesses first and foremost. Don't overload them with the temptation to peek at the other side's line up. Secondly, it feels like a reward or a big clue reveal for the lawyers when they get their hands on the other team's lineup and testimonies just a few days before they go to trial. It is your decision how you want to present the material, but whatever you do, only give access to the witness testimony links and documents to the lawyers and witnesses - the jury, news reporters, judges and bailiff should not be reading it before court. I only allow the lawyers meet with their cross-examination witness ONCE and I only let them ask their questions for 5-10 minutes maximum. (The lawyers and/or the witnesses can end up spilling the beans and giving away too much info right before trial. Then you have upset kiddos on your hands.)

6. Opening and Closing Statements - One of the final things the lawyer teams need to do is write their Opening and Closing statements. I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful ELA teacher who comes in and helps the lawyers craft these. What you want to stress is that these two statements are a narrative of what their side believes took place and what they will be able to prove by the end of trial. The jury is not allowed to use the statements as facts or evidence in their deliberations, but they should be viewed as a road map for the jury. It's the lawyers only shot to tell a coherent story in one go. The lawyer who presents it in court should practice the speech multiple times before trial.

7. In the final days before trial, the lawyers should be practicing direct examination with their witness, meeting with their cross-examination witness the one time, practicing objections, and crafting their opening and closing statements.