Opening Statement Fact Pattern

On October 15, 2014 an incident took place at a local high school involving three high schoolstudents.Eighteen year-old senior Kelly threw a cell phone at her classmate Helen and ended up hitting another student, Jack in his right eye.As a result, Jack lost permanent vision in his right eye. The incident took place in the high school's cafeteria at approximately 12:30 p.m., the school's lunch hour,and was witnessed by numerous students and teachers.Initially, Kelly approached Helen in thecafeteria and accused her of sending text messages to her boyfriend Rick, who was sitting at a tablewith several other students.Helen denied that she had texted Rick. Kelly grabbed Helen's phone, whichhad been on the lunch table and began to review her text messages. Kelly saw three messages thatHelen had sent to Rick. She read the messages aloud. As she was reading the messages, Helenscreamed, "Give me my phone back, you pathetic loser!" Helen continued to scream that she wantedher phone back. In response, Kelly stopped reading the text messages, glared at Helen, stated, "Youwant it back? Here!" and then threw the phone in Helena's direction.Helen screamed and ducked outof the way. Jack, who was sitting next to Helena, turned his head in Kelly's direction to see what hadhappened. The phone hit him in the right eye.Jack immediately dropped to the ground and startedscreaming that she had "blinded" him. School officials called an ambulance and Jack was taken to theemergency room. Despite several surgeries, Jack has not regained vision in his right eye. Kelly has ajuvenile record for shoplifting and assault. Now that she is 18 years old, Kelly has been charged withAggravated Assault and Theft of Movable Property by the local Prosecutor's Office.

DIRECTIONS:Using what you've learned about opening statements, including the suggestions found at the end of this assignment, choose a side, either prosecution or defense, and prepare an opening statement.Your opening statement should be written as if you were delivering it to a jury which has been seated and is ready to hear the case.If you choose to be the prosecutor, your statement should set forth your theory of the crime, and provide the jury a preview of what evidence they will hear at trial.As a defense attorney, you should rebut any evidence that may harm your case, and set forth any defenses you intend to use during the trial.

Suggestions on how to prepare an opening statement

Create an outline.Working off an outline will keep the opening statement organized and inclusive of all the important themes of the case. Use a legal pad or a notebook to outline the opening statement. Write down the major points that need to be addressed, and then fill in each point with more detail and specific information.

Appeal to the jury's emotions.The jury is made up of real people who live real lives. Create the opening statement to sound like a story. If the case is something that the jury can relate to, they will remember and relate to the information shared by the attorney. A compelling opening statement will provide the opportunity to tell a story and get the jury members personally involved.

Propose a theory.The jury will need to know what the attorney is going to prove. Give them your side of the story. Explain what happened, what is going to be proven, and why no other explanation could possibly be credible.

Present evidence and witnesses.Give a brief introduction of what the jury can expect in terms of witnesses, testimony and evidence. Explain how those witnesses and the evidence will support your theory of the case.

Keep a relaxed style.An opening statement should be conversational and authoritative. Do not be argumentative or combative at this point. Maintain a professional demeanor that will help the jury trust you and what you say.

Conclude with a major point.The last thing you say should be memorable and important. Use a punch line repetitively, repeat the theme, and tell the jury what you expect from them.