New Mock Trial Rules

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    Connecticut Mock Trial CompetitionCompetition Rules

    Please remember that this is program is intended to be an academic, educational and enjoyable experience forall involved. This is neither a battle of sophisticated legal strategy nor a theatrical presentation. Please follow aproper sense of fairness in competition and remember the spirit of the competition is to provide an engagingeducational activity for students.

    All rounds of the CCLC Connecticut !oc" Trial Competition are governed by these rules. ach competitor andcoach should be thoroughly familiar with these rules. #ailure to comply with these rules may result indis$ualification. Conse$uences will be determined by the competition coordinator%s&. All rule violations mustbe brought to the judges attention by participating student attorneys during the trial in a timely andappropriate manner. !"#R !$ C%RCM&TA!C#& may any coach or member o' the audience interruptthe trial 'or A!( reason) nor may they communicate rule violations to the student attorneys in any*ay during the trial. %t is the responsibility o' the students participating in the competition to bethoroughly 'amiliar *ith the rules and alert the judges to any and all violations. +ailure to do so resultsin missed opportunity. 't is simply too difficult for competition coordinator%s& to witness all violations or toma"e a ruling based upon an alleged violation that they did not witness. Trial judges will be instructed to noteviolations and discuss them with the coordinators after the trial as the judges are present and can ma"e the best

    assessment at the time of the actual occurrence of the alleged violation if it is brought to their attention in atimely and appropriate manner. (ule violations should be brought up as an objection li"e any other objection.

    )**. Teams

    A. Team members, ach school may enter up to three teams in the regional rounds. A school withmultiple teams may be as"ed to compete in different regions. -# M&T A/# A C$MM%TM#!TTAT A00 T#AM& R#1%&T#R#" -%00 C$M2#T#. ach team shall be composed of not less thansi3 nor more than 'ourteen students%with extras&. #or any single round in the competition, threestudents shall act as attorneys and three students shall act as *itnesses. Thus, on larger teams,some students will be observers for a given round. 20#A !$T# M%!%MM !M4#R $+&T"#!T& %& &%5. 'f a team has less than )+ students, students who have + roles must have theirsecond role on the opposite side from the first role in the competition %i.e. prosecution and defense

    sides&.

    -. Coaches ach team shall wor" with a school instructor and a practicing attorney %or attorneys& toprepare for competition. Coaches may attend their teams competitions but may not give advice orsignals or communicate in any *ay *ith their team during the competition .

    C. 6udges There will be a panel of up to three judges for each trial, to be chosen by the !oc" Trial(egional Coordinators. The Committee shall endeavor to find judges who are impartial to eithercompeting school. 'f not enough judges are available for a given round, there may be a single judge.

    ))*. Competition +ormat

    A. Roles Teams must be prepared to present both sides of the case. There will be two trials for eachschool at the regional level, and teams will switch sides %plaintiffs case or defendants case& for eachround. !embers within a team may reverse roles at different rounds so that witnesses may serve asattorneys at another round. 'f teams competing at a subse$uent round had both represented the sameside at the prior round, the competition staff will flip a coin to determine assignments for the next round.

    -. "elay o' Trial The failure of a team to report promptly at the assigned time should be reported to thejudge, who will notify the competition staff. A team arriving more than )/ minutes late may forfeit theround.

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    C. /ie*ing o' other trials Team members %including coaches, understudy witnesses and attorneys,etc.& may not vie* other teams in competition so long as they remain in the competitionthemselves. This includes vie*ing other teams 'rom the same school.

    0. 2icture7/ideo8taping, There will be !$picture ta"ing or video1taping allowed during anymoc"trial competitions. 'f guests wish to ta"e pictures before or after the moc" trial competitions andthose pictures include anyone but their own child2ren they must receive express consent from thestudents in the pictures, their parent%s& and their school faculty representative. Permission from a

    coach that is not part of the school faculty does not suffice.

    . Regional Competition All teams will be participating in a regional tournament. The CCLC willnotify schools as to specific dates. All schools compete twice at the regional level, once for each side,prosecution and defense. 3o guarantees can be made regarding which site you will attend.

    #. 9uarter and &emi8+inals Teams that win in both trials of their regional round will be invited toadvance to the $uarterfinals. At the high school level the $uarterfinals will be a two1round singleelimination tournament4 that is, all teams will compete in the first trial. 5nly those teams that win in thefirst round of the $uarterfinals will be invited to compete in the second round of the $uarterfinals. 5nlythe top four teams that win their case in the second round of the $uarterfinals will advance to the semi1final round. The semi1final round will be a single elimination tournament. The two winning teams fromthe semi1finals will advance to the final competition. At the middle school level the $uarterfinals are a

    two1round double elimination tournament. 5nly the top four teams that win their case at the $uarterfinalswill advance to the semi1final round. The two winning teams from the semi1finals will advance to the finalcompetition immediately following.

    6. +inal Competition The two winning teams of the semi1final competition will compete for the statechampionship. The sides will be determined by a flip of a coin in advance by the Consortium. Allparticipating schools will be invited to attend.

    7. neven number o' teams, 'n the event an uneven number of teams are ready for trial at any givenlevel of competition, the site coordinator will randomly draw from a group of volunteer teams which haveseparate Plaintiff and 0efendant teams to compete against the unmatched team. ither or both of thetwo separate Plaintiff and 0efendant teams may advance, depending solely on their win2loss record. 'nthe event 35 team volunteers to compete against the unmatched team, the unmatched team will

    advance by default.

    )+*. +acts in Trial #nactments

    A. &tatement o' +acts ach team will receive a 8tatement of #acts, including witness affidavits andstipulations. These facts may not be disputed or changed at trial.

    -. -itnesses and A''idavits 9itnesses may not use notes while testifying at trial. ach witness isbound by his or her own written statement. A witness is not bound by facts contained in other witnessesstatements. ALL 9'T3888 !:8T T8T'#; 1 that is, you cannot choose 35T to call a witness.Coaches must notify their opponents in advance of the trial concerning changes in name or sex of aparticular witness. Testi'y means to bear *itness: to give evidence as a *itness. ;4lacks 0a*"ictionary< +or purposes o' these rules and this mock trial competition) A00 -%T!#&& M&TT#&T%+( means that all *itnesses must give 'acts 'rom their a''idavits under both direct andcross e3amination. Attorneys may not limit the scope o' either direct or cross8e3amination tomerely biographical in'ormation. +urther) i' an attorney does limit the direct e3amination o' a*itness) this may not preclude opposing counsel 'rom conducting a complete cross8e3amination o' that *itness. Any objection to a cross8e3amination o' outside the scope o'direct based upon a limited direct e3amination must be overruled. %n addition) any attorney thatdeliberately limits a direct e3amination to merely biographical in'ormation) thereby leaving out asubstantial amount o' relevant 'acts 'rom the *itness a''idavit) should be penali=ed in scoring.Any *itness that gives hal' a per'ormance by having a direct e3amination based upon limitedbiographical >uestions) may also be do*n8scored accordingly per judges discretion.

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    C. -itnesses "ress,3o props will be allowed during any moc" trial competition. A prop is defined asany object that is not a part of the person*. Roles in the Competition

    A. Attorneys Attorneys control the presentation of evidence at trial and argue the merits of their sideof the case. They do not themselves supply information about the facts of the case. 'nstead, theyintroduce evidence and $uestion witnesses to bring out the full story. Attorneys must be sufficientlyfamiliar with the witnesses statements to recogni?e instances when testimony contradicts orextrapolates upon the affidavit.

    Attorneys research the case by reviewing the case materials supplied for the competition and plan theirteams strategy for presenting evidence. Attorneys help witnesses study their roles and prepare theirtestimony. Attorneys may use notes in presenting their cases %opening statements, direct and cross1examination, objections and closing arguments&.

    ach team must examine each witness, either on direct or on cross1examination, as appropriate. #acho' the three attorneys on a team must engage in the direct e3amination o' one *itness and thecross8e3amination o' another. An attorney for a team presenting the opening statement may 35Tma"e the closing arguments. 5nly the attorney doing the direct or cross of the witness on the stand mayma"e objections for that witness.

    -. -itnesses 9itnesses tell the court the facts in the case. ach team must see that their witnessesare thoroughly prepared and familiar with their roles and must call all of its assigned witnesses. Teamsmay not call any @surprise@ witnesses %witnesses whose testimony is not outlined in the case materials.&9itnesses may 35T use notes in testifying during the trial. -itnesses may !$T sit *ith norcommunicate *ith the attorneys during the trial, but shall stay in the courtroom at all times duringthe proceedings.

    C. 4aili'' The -ailiff assists the judge in conducting the trial by opening court, swearing in witnesses,and serving as time"eeper. The bailiff should have a stopwatch for time"eeping and "eep a record ofthe time used by each side on the official time sheet. The bailiff will indicate that a team has + minutes,) minute, =* seconds and no time remaining in a category by holding up a sign. %T %& T#

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    R#&2$!&%4%0%T( $+ #AC &C$$0 T$ 4R%!1 $!# 2#R&$! T$ ACT A& 4A%0%++ ;can be astudent

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    colleagues are EEEEEEEEE, and EEEEEEEEEEE.F %'n a criminal case the prosecution would say G;our7onor, my name is EEEEEEEE attorney for the 8tate of 3ew ustice. !y colleagues are EEEEEEEEEE,and EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.F&

    0. "irect #3amination by the 2lainti''72rosecution; minutes per *itness

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    testimony. The defense attorney may as" three >uestionson points brought out during redirectexamination only.

    L. Closing Arguments; minutes per team

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    %!T& $! 2R#2ARAT%$! +$R A M$C? TR%A0T$R!AM#!T

    )I*. The following tips have been developed from previous experiences in training a moc" trial team.

    A. All students should read the entire set of materials, and discuss the information2procedures and rules used inthe moc" trial contest.

    4. The facts of the case, witnesses testimony, and the points for each side in the case then should be examinedand discussed. Hey information should be listed on the chal"board as discussion proceeds so that it can bereferred to at some later time.

    C. #ven though a school team has to represent only one side in the case during any single round of thecompetition, all roles in the case should be assigned and practiced. This will help in practicing the case as wellas preparing for future rounds.

    ". The credibility of the witnesses is very important to a teams presentation of its case. As a result, studentsacting as witnesses need to really @get into@ their roles and attempt to thin" li"e the persons they are playing.8tudents who are witnesses should read over their statements %affidavits& many times and have other members

    of the team or their class as" them $uestions about the facts until they "now them @cold.@

    #. 4ased on the experiences obtained through several years of moc" trial competitions, we have found that thebest teams generally had the students prepare their own $uestions, with the teacher1coach and attorney1advisorgiving the team continual feedbac" and assistance on the assignment as it was completed. -ased on theexperience of these practice sessions, attorneys should revise their $uestions and witnesses should restudy theparts of their witness statements where they are wea".

    +. $pening statements should also be written by team members. Legal and2or non1legal language should beavoided where its meaning is not completely understood by attorneys and witnesses.

    1. Closing arguments should not be totally composed before the trial, as they are supposed to highlight theimportant developments for the plaintiff and the defense, which have occurred during the trial. The more relaxed

    and informal such statements are, the more effective they are li"ely to be.

    .udges should not interrupt students during the trial. 9hen in panels of more than one, judges should notconfer on rulings but rather ta"e turns or designate a lead judge to rule on objections.

    %. As a team gets closer to the final round of the contest, the tournament re$uires that it conduct at least onecomplete trial as a @dress rehearsal.@ All formalities should be followed and notes ta"en by the teacher coachand students concerning how the teams presentation might be improved. A teams attorney advisor should beinvited to attend this session and comment on the enactment.

    6. The ability of a team to adapt to different situations is often a "ey component in a moc" trial enactment, sinceeach judge or lawyer acting as a judge, has his or her own way of doing things. 8ince the proceedings orconduct of the trial often depend in no small part on the judge who presides, student attorneys and other team

    members should be prepared to adapt to judicial rulings and re$uests.

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    TR%A0 TT%!1

    -efore participating in a moc" trial, it is important to be familiar with the physical setting of the courtroom, as wellas the events that generally ta"e place during the exercise and the order in which they occur. This sectionoutlines the usual steps in a bench@ trial1 1 1 that is, a trial without a jury.

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    The udge

    The Attorneys

    - Plaintiff 1 0efendant %Civil Case&- Prosecution 1 0efendant %Criminal Case&

    The 9itnesses1 Plaintiff 1 0efendant %Civil Case&1 Prosecution 1 0efendant %Criminal Case&

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    Modi'ied Rules o' #videnceand 2rocedure

    'n trials in federal and state courts in the :nited 8tates, formal rules regulate the admission of and exclusion ofevidence %what evidence can and cannot be presented in court&. vidence may be testimonial %a witnesstestimony& or physical %documents, objects, photographs, etc.&. The rules of evidence are designed to ensurethat both parties receive a fair trial and to exclude any evidence that is irrelevant, untrustworthy, or undulyprejudicial.

    8tudying the rules will prepare you to ma"e timely objections, avoid pitfalls in your own presentations, andunderstand some of the difficulties that arise in actual cases. The purpose of using rules of evidence in thecompetition is to structure the presentations to resemble those of an actual trial.

    Almost every fact stated in the materials will be admissible under the rules of evidence. -ecause rules ofevidence are so complex, you are not expected to "now the fine points. To promote the educational objectivesof this program students are restricted to the use of a select number of evidentiary rules in conducting the trial.

    -ecause of their complexity, for purposes of this moc" trial competition, the rules of evidence have beenmodified and simplified as follows

    &cope o' These Rules

    Rule B, &cope, These rules govern all proceedings in all rounds of the !oc" Trial Competition. Theonly rules o' evidence to be considered in the competition are those included in these rules. Allevidence *ill be admitted unless an attorney objects.

    Rule BD, $bjectionsA. An objection *hich is not based upon these rules shall not be considered by the court ;the

    judge

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    6. udges should avoid interrupting students during the trial.7. 9hen udges are in panels of more than one, they should not confer on rulings but rather either

    ta"e turns or choose one person to be the lead judge and rule on objections.

    A proper objection includes the following elements). attorney addresses the judge,+. attorney indicates that he2she is raising an objection,=. attorney specifies what he2she is objecting to, e.g. the particular word, phrase or $uestion, and

    >. attorney specifies the legal grounds that the opposing side is violating.

    xample %)& G;our honor, %+& ' object %=& to that $uestion %>& on the ground that it is compound.F

    Rule BB, &ummary o' Allo*able #videntiary $bjections +or Mock Trial Competitions,Allowableobjections are further explained individually below. The allowable objections are invention of facts,relevance, lac" of foundation, lac" of personal "nowledge, inadmissible character evidence, improperopinion, hearsay, leading $uestion, argumentative $uestion, as"ed and answered, compound $uestion,narrative, non1responsive and outside the scope of cross, re1direct or re1cross. %' an objection is madethat is not included in this list o' allo*able objections it is the responsibility o' opposing counselto object on the basis that the objection made is outside the scope o' the rules.

    Rule BE, /iolation o' Mock Trial Rules, This objection is to be used by the student GattorneysF during

    the competition to report an alleged competition rule violation to the judge, such as witnesses or otherscommunicating with attorneys, or attorneys conducting more than one direct or cross examination fortheir team or an attorney other than the examining attorney ma"ing an objection, etc. This objection isto be used for violations of any competition rules, not for rules of evidence as they are their ownobjections.

    %nvention o' +acts and #3trapolation %special rules for !oc" Trial competition&

    Rule BF, %nvention o' +acts, 5ne objection available in the competition which is not an ordinary ruleof evidence allows you to stop an opposing witness from creating new facts. The object of these rules isto prevent a team from @creating@ facts not in the material to gain an unfair advantage over the opposingteam. 5n direct examination the witness is limited to the facts given in the case materials. 'f the witnessgoes beyond the facts given %adds new facts or speculates about facts&, the testimony may be objected

    to by opposing counsel as speculation or as invention of facts outside the case materials. 'f a witnesstestifies in contradictionof a fact given in the witness statement, opposing counsel should impeachwitness testimony during cross1examination. !ote, This is a di''erent situation calling 'or aimpeachment !$T a BF objection.

    'f you believe that a witness has gone beyond the information provided in the #act 8ituation or 9itness8tatements, use the following form of objection

    G5bjection your honor. The answer is inventing a material fact which is not in the record,F or G5bjectionyour honor. The $uestion see"s testimony which goes beyond the scope of the record and calls for aninvention of facts.F

    Rule B@, %nvention o' +acts 8 Cross8#3amination. 'f on cross1examination a witness is as"ed a

    $uestion, the answer to which is not contained in the facts given, the witness may respond with anyanswer, so long as it is responsive to the $uestion, does not contain unnecessary elaboration beyondthe scope of the witness statement, and does not contradict the witness statement. An answer which isunresponsive or unnecessarily elaborate may be objected to by the cross1examining attorney. Ananswer which is contrary to the witness statement may be impeached by the cross1examining attorney.!ote, This is a di''erent situation calling 'or an impeachment !$T a B@ objection.

    Rule BG, Reasonable %n'erence, 0ue to the nature of the competition, testimony often comes into$uestion as to whether it can be reasonably inferred given facts A, -, C, etc. A reasonable inference isa fact not in the record but that can follow naturally from the facts provided and that does not change thematerial facts of the story. #or example, the height or eye color of a witness may be a material fact if it

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    identifies him2her as a suspect in a crime but an insignificant inference if it means nothing to the issuesof the case. 't is ultimately the responsibility of the trier of fact to decide what can be reasonablyinferred. 7owever, it is the students responsibility to *ork as closely *ithin the 'act situationand *itness statements as possible.

    Relevancy

    Rule ED, Relevancy. 5nly relevant evidence is admissible. (elevant evidence is evidence %physicalor testimonial&, which tends to ma"e the existence of a fact, which is important to the case more or lessprobable than the fact would be without the evidence. 7owever, relevant evidence may be excluded bythe court if it is unfairly prejudicial, may confuse the issues, or is a waste of time. vidence, which is notrelevant is not admissible.

    Examples

    ). Relevant evidence: 'n a lawsuit by 0river - for personal injuries sustained in a car accident atan intersection, testimony that 0river A ran a red light is relevant because it tends to prove that0river A was at fault in causing the accident, and fault is an issue that is important to the case.

    +. Relevant evidence that may be excluded because it is unfairly prejudicial:A plaintiff presents acola picture of himself2herself after an accident which depicts gruesome, bloody injuries.

    Although the picture is relevant to show the existence and nature of the plaintiff

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    =. offer it into evidence.These steps must be taken be'ore a *itness can read 'rom any document out loud orbe'ore any physical object can be sho*n to the trier o' 'act or discussed by a *itness.!ote, This is not the same as re'reshing recollection. As long as these steps are'ollo*ed) no objection 'or lack o' 'oundation 'or physical evidence may be made.o*ever) i' one or more o' these steps are missing then an objection 'or lack o''oundation is appropriate.

    Example

    Attorney ;our honor, may we please have this mar"ed as Plaintiffs xhibit ) %or0efendants xhibit A&B %xhibit is mar"ed.& Let the record reflect that l amshowing Plaintiffs xhibit ) %or 0efendants xhibit A& to opposing counsel.%xhibit is shown to opposing counsel.&;our 7onor, may l approach the witnessB

    The Court ;ou may.

    Attorney 9itness J, 'm showing you what has been mar"ed as Plaintiff

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    Rule GD, Character. 9itnesses generally cannot testify about a person

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    Rule B, $pinion Testimony by #3perts.

    A. 5nly persons whom are shown to be experts at trial may give opinions on $uestions that re$uirespecial "nowledge beyond that of ordinary lay1persons. This means that before the witness can beas"ed for an expert opinion, the $uestioning attorney !:8T bring out the witness< $ualifications andexperience. This is usually accomplished by as"ing the witness himself2herself about his2herbac"ground, training and experience. The foundation need only be within the confines of the statement.

    3o outside bac"ground "nowledge is necessary and the witness may not be held accountable for"nowledge outside the scope of the materials provided.

    -. 9hen the case stipulations state that a witness is G$ualifiableF as an expert this means that if theproper foundation is laid the witness must be treated as an expert and allowed to answer expertopinion $uestions. 't does 35T mean that the witness is already deemed an expert by the court orthat the attorney does not need to lay the proper foundation.

    C. 7owever, if there is no stipulation regarding an expert then the party $uestioning the witness mustargue the basis for the witness to be $ualified to answer the expert opinion $uestion.

    0. The attorney $uestioning the witness shall not as" the court to recogni?e the witness as an expert,but rather must lay a proper foundation, within the scope of the materials provided, thatdemonstrates the witness< $ualifications to answer an expert opinion $uestion. 'f opposing counselchooses to object to the witness< ability to answer the expert opinion $uestion, the proper objection

    would be either lac" of foundation or improper opinion. Then the attorney $uestioning the witnessshould respond to the objection by demonstrating why the witness is $ualified to answer the$uestion. This will be done on a $uestion1by $uestion basis.

    Example

    Attorney 0octor, please tell the jurors about your educational bac"ground.9itness ' attended 7arvard College and 7arvard !edical 8chool.

    Attorney 0o you practice in any particular area of medicineB9itness ' am a board1certified forensic pathologist. ' have been a forensic pathologist

    for +K years.

    #orm of objection G5bjection your honor. 3o foundation has been laid for this witness to be$ualified as an expert.F 5r G5bjection your honor. The $uestion calls for an improper opinion.F5r G5bjection your honor. The witness has offered an improper opinion.F

    earsay

    Rule ID, earsay. Any evidence of a statement made out of court by someone other than the witnesstestifying, which is offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the out1of1court statement, ishearsay and is not admissible. This is because these statements are very unreliable. Testimony notoffered to prove the truth of the matter asserted is, by definition, not hearsay. #or example, testimony toshow that a statement was said and heard, to show that a declarant could spea" in a certain language,or to show the statement

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    is not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the out1of1court statement. 7owever,the testimony is only admissible if !rs. 8miths ability to spea" nglish is relevant to the case.

    !omment:9hy should the complicated and confusing condition be added that the out1of1courtstatement is only hearsay when @offered for the truth of the matter asserted@B The answer is thathearsay is considered untrustworthy because the spea"er of the out1of1court statement has not beenplaced under oath and cannot be cross1examined concerning the statement or concerning his2hercredibility. 'n the previous example, !rs. 8mith cannot be cross1examined concerning her statement

    that the decedents wife had a bottle of arsenic in her medicine cabinet, since witness J, and not !rs.8mith has been called to give this testimony. 7owever, witness J has been placed under oath and canbe cross1examined about whether !rs. 8mith actually made this statement, thus demonstrating that shecould spea" nglish. 9hen offered to prove that !rs. 8mith could spea" nglish, witness Js testimonyabout her out1of1court statement is not hearsay.

    #orm of objection G5bjection your honor. Counsel

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    %tatements for &urposes of 'edical or &sycholo"ical (ia"nosis or Treatment# A statement made to aphysician or psychological counselor that assists the physician or counselor in arriving at adiagnosis or conclusion about the patients condition and2or that assists the physician orcounselor in prescribing a course of treatment for the patient.

    Example

    ). Patient tells physician that he has had stomach pain for three days. The physician may

    testify that this is what the patient said.

    %tate of 'ind. A judge may admit hearsay evidence if a persons state of mind is an important part ofthe case and the hearsay consists of evidence of what someone said which described that particularpersons state of mind.

    -itness #3amination7%mproper or %mproperly 2hrased 9uestions

    Rule JD, "irect #3amination 8 0eading 9uestions. 9itnesses should be as"ed neutral $uestionsand may not be as"ed leading $uestions on direct examination. 3eutral $uestions are open1ended$uestions that do not suggest the answer and that usually invite the witness to give a narrativeresponse. A leading $uestion is one that suggests to the witness the answer desired by the examiningattorney and often suggests a @yes@ or @no@ answer.

    Examples). Proper direct examination $uestions

    a. 9hat did you seeBb. 9hat happened nextBc. 9ere you speedingB

    +. Leading $uestions %not permitted on direct&

    a. 'snt it true that you saw the defendant run into the alleyBb. After you saw the defendant run into the alley, you called the police, correctB

    #orm of objection G5bjection your honor. Counsel is leading the witness.F

    Rule JB, &cope o' "irect #3amination. 5n direct examination an attorney may in$uire as to anyrelevant facts of which the witness has first1hand, personal "nowledge.

    Rule JE, Re'reshing Recollection. 'f a witness is unable to recall information contained in his2herwitness statement or contradicts the witness statement, the attorney calling the witness may use thewitness statement to help the witness remember. 'n this case, the document that the witness is readingdoes not need to be admitted as evidence. The witness will read the document or portion of adocument to himself2herself and then the attorney should ta"e the document away from the witnessbefore the witness responds to any $uestions. 'n this case, the witness may not read the document outloud unless it is already admitted as evidence.

    Example

    9itness cannot recall what happened after the defendant ran into the alley or contradicts witnessstatement on this point

    ). !r.2!s. 9itness, do you recall giving a deposition in this caseB

    +. ;our 7onor, may ' approach the witnessB %Permission is granted.& 'd li"e to show you a portionof the summary of your deposition, and as" you to review the first two paragraphs on pagethree. %Then ta"e the document away from the witness.&

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    =. 7aving had an opportunity to review your statement, do you now recall what happened after thedefendant ran into the alleyB

    Rule JF, Cross8#3amination 8 +orm o' 9uestions. An attorney should usually, if not always, as"leading $uestions when cross1examining the opponents witnesses. 5pen1ended $uestions tending toevo"e a narrative answer, such as @why@ or @explain@ should be avoided. %Leading $uestions are notpermitted on direct examination because it is thought to be unfair for an attorney to suggest answers toa witness whose testimony is already considered to favor that attorneys side of the case. Leading

    $uestions are encouraged on cross1examination because witnesses called by the opposing side may bereluctant to admit facts that favor the cross1examining attorneys side of the case.& 7owever, it is not aviolation of this rule to as" a non1leading $uestion on cross1examination.

    Examples

    ). )ood leadin" crossexamination *uestion:

    'snt it true that it was almost completely dar" outside when you say you saw the defendant runinto the alleyB

    +. &oor crossexamination *uestion:

    7ow dar" was it outside when you saw the defendant run into the alleyB

    Rule J@, &cope o' Cross8#3amination. Attorneys may only as" $uestions that relate to mattersbrought out during direct examination or to matters relating to the witness credibility or believability.%n'ormation being in the *itness statement does not automatically open the *itness to>uestions on those points during cross i' they are outside the scope o' the direct e3amination.-hether or not to allo* lee*ay on cross is !$T in the judges discretion. The >uestion is*hether or not the door has been opened on direct. %ssues o' credibility are al*ays *ithin thescope o' cross.

    Rule JG, %mpeachment. 5n cross1examination the cross1examining attorney may impeach thewitness. 'mpeachment is a cross1examination techni$ue used to demonstrate that the witness should

    not be believed. 'mpeachment is accomplished by as"ing $uestions which demonstrate either %)& thatthe witness has now changed his2her story from statements or testimony given by the witness prior tothe trial, or %+& that the witness trial testimony should not be believed because the witness is adishonest and untruthful person. %t is not necessary to admit the statement into evidence in orderto use it 'or impeachment purposes.

    'mpeachment differs from the refreshing recollection techni$ue. (efreshing recollection is used duringdirect examination to steer a favorable, but forgetful, witness bac" onto the beaten path. 'mpeachmentis a cross1examination techni$ue used to discredit a witness testimony.

    Example

    ). Impeachment with prior insistent statement:

    Attorney !r. ones, you testified on direct that you saw the two cars beforethey actuallycollided, correctB

    9itness ;es.

    Attorney ;ou gave a deposition in this case a few months ago, correctB

    9itness ;es.

    Attorney -efore you gave that deposition you were sworn by the court reporter to tellthe truth, werent youB

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    9itness ;es.

    Attorney !r. ones, in your deposition, you testified that the first thing that drew yourattention to the collision was when you heard a loud crash, isnt that trueB

    9itness ' dont remember ever saying that.

    Attorney ;our 7onor, may ' approach the witnessB %Permission is granted.& !r. ones,'m handing you the summary of your deposition and 'll as" you to read along

    as ' read the second full paragraph on page two, @' heard a loud crash and 'loo"ed over and saw that he two cars had just collided. This was the first time 'actually saw the two cars.@ 0id ' read that correctlyB

    9itness ;es.

    Attorney Than" you !r. ones. 3o further $uestions, ;our 7onor.

    +. Impeachment with prior dishonest conduct:

    Attorney 8tudent J, isnt it true that last fall you were suspended from school for threedays for cheating on a testB

    9itness ;es.

    Rule J, %mpeachment by #vidence o' a Criminal Conviction. #or the purpose of attac"ing thecredibility of a witness, evidence that he2she has been convicted of a crime shall be admitted, but only ifthe crime was a felony or involved moral turpitude, regardless of punishment, and the court determinesthat the value of this evidence as reliable proof outweighs its prejudicial effect to a party.

    Example

    Attorney 's it true that you have been convicted of assaultB

    C. Redirect #3amination%$uestions as"ed after the cross1examination, by the attorney whocalled the witness&

    Rule JI, Redirect #3amination. After cross1examination, up to three, but no more than three

    additional $uestions may be as"ed by the direct examining attorney, but such $uestions are limited tomatters raised by the opposing attorney on cross1examination. ust as on direct examination, leading$uestions are not permitted on redirect.

    !omment: 'f the credibility or reputation for truthfulness of the witness has been attac"ed successfullyon cross1examination, the attorney whose witness has been damaged may wish to as" $uestions onredirect which will allow the witness to @rehabilitate@ himself2herself %save the witness truth1tellingimage&. (edirect examination may also be used to strengthen a positive fact that was wea"ened by thecross1examination. (edirect examination is not mandatory. A good rule to follow is if it isnt bro"en,dont fix it.Examples

    +# !rossExamination of physician called by prosecution in murder case:

    Attorney 0octor, you testified on direct that the decedent died of arsenic 9itnesspoisoning, correctB

    Attorney 'snt it true that you have a deposition in which you testified that you did not"now the cause of deathB

    9itness ;es, thats true.

    (edirect

    Attorney 0octor, why did you testify in your deposition that you did of "now thedecedents cause of deathB

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    9itness ' had not yet received all of the test results, which allowed me to conclude thatthe decedent died of arsenic poisoning.

    +. !ross Examination:

    Attorney 0octor, isnt it true that the result of test J points away from a finding of arsenicpoisoningB

    9itness ;es.

    (edirect

    Attorney 0octor, why did you conclude that the decedent died of arsenic poisoning eventhough test J pointed away from arsenic poisoningB

    9itness -ecause all of the other test results so overwhelmingly pointed toward arsenicpoisoning, and because test J isnt always reliable.

    Comment 3either one of these redirect examinations should have been conducted unless the attorneyhad a fairly good idea of what the witness response would be. As a general rule, it is not advisable toas" a $uestion if you have no idea what the answer will be.

    Rule JJ, Re8cross8#3amination. After redirect, up to three, but no more than three, additional

    $uestions may be as"ed by the cross1examining attorney, but such $uestions are limited to mattersraised on redirect examination. (e1cross is not mandatory and should not be used simply to repeatpoints that have already been made.

    Example

    Assume the cross1examination and redirect examination set forth in the example under (ule=*K above have occurred. A good (e1cross1examination would be the following

    Attorney 0octor, isnt it true that when you gave your deposition you had received all ofthe test results except the result of text JB

    9itness ;es, thats true.

    Comment The cross1examining attorney would then argue in closing argument that the doctor testifiedin his deposition that he did not "now the cause of death at the time of his deposition and that the onlytest result received after the deposition was text J, which pointed away from arsenic poisoning.

    Rule JD, Argumentative 9uestions, An argumentative $uestion challenges the witness about aninference from the facts in the case.

    xample Assume that the witness testifies on direct examination that the defendant

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    Rule JDD, Asked and Ans*ered, As"ed and answered is just as it states, that a $uestion which hadpreviously been as"ed and answered is being as"ed again. This can seriously inhibit theeffectiveness of a trial.

    xamples ). 5n direct examination Counsel A as"s -, G0id you stop for the stopsignBF - answers, G3o he did not.F A then as"s, G Let me get your testimonystraight. 0id J stop for the stop signBF Counsel for J correctly objects andshould be sustained.

    +. 5n cross1examination Counsel J as"s -, G0idn

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    impeach the witness with prior testimony if s2he testified in his2her depositionthat s2he hit student -&.

    #orm of 5bjection G5bjection your honor. The witness is being non1responsive.F

    Rule JD@, $utside the scope o' cross) or re8direct e3amination (e1direct examination is limited toissues raised by the opposing attorney on cross1examination. (e1cross is limited to issues raised by theopposing attorney on re1direct examination. 'f an attorney as"s a $uestion that goes beyond the issuesraised on cross, they may be objected to as Goutside the scope of cross1examination %or re1direct&.F

    Rule JDG, Attorney is testi'ying, An attorney may not ma"e statements during examination ofwitnesses. Attorneys are to pose $uestions to witnesses only and allow only witnesses to ma"estatements of fact. 'f an attorney ma"es statements during $uestioning, an opposing attorney shouldobject that Gthe attorney is testifying.F

    Rule JD, Motions to "ismiss. !otions for directed verdict or dismissal of the case are not permitted.

    Rule JDI, Closing Arguments. Closing arguments must be based on the evidence and testimonypresented during the trial.

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    0ist o' 2articipants 'or Mock Trial Competition

    Team 3ame EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

    8ide represented Plaintiff2Prosecution 0efense

    3ames of 8tudent Attorneys

    EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

    EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

    EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

    9itnesses3ame of witness 3ame of 8tudent 6ender !2#

    EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEE

    EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEE

    EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEE

    KK $ne copy M&T be submitted to the presiding judge;s< o' the competition and one copy given toopposing counsel prior to the start o' the trial.KK