NCJ Number
131001
Date Published
1990
Length
458 pages
Annotation
This portable trial guide is intended for use by attorneys in the course of trial preparation and the conduct of a trial.
Abstract
The introductory chapter on planning and preparing the litigation contains practical suggestions for organizing the files and outlining the witness presentations in advance. Subsequent chapters address each of the principal phases of the trial, from jury selection and opening statements through closing argument, jury instructions, and posttrial motions. The core of the volume is the chapter on presentation of proof. This chapter contains an evidence guide intended for use in court every day of the trial. This chapter includes techniques for making a good record, direct-examination techniques, exhibit-handling procedures, a step-by-step guide to numerous common evidentiary foundations, objection checklists and guidelines for objection technique, cross-examination suggestions, and procedures for the use of discovery materials at trial. One section of the chapter illustrates accepted approaches to virtually all of the common forms of evidence and can be used by analogy to fashion short and simple question sequences for other similar proof items. The central portion of the handbook is designed to make the law of evidence easy to use. Appended forms, checklists, and outlines