Case Theory Development Case Theory Essentially this is

Case Theory Development

Case Theory • Essentially, this is your thesis statement for how each side believes the story unfolded • The information you need to develop your theory comes from your sides witness statements and the exhibits • If you put it in essay terms, your prompt for any criminal case would be • Analyze why ______ is guilty of ______. • Analyze why ______ is not guilty of ______.

Case Theory • When questioning witnesses on the stand, the first thing that you do is establish who they are (as seen in the video) • After that, the remainder of their testimony (on direct exam) is dedicated to explaining why the defendant is guilty or innocent, using exhibits to provide additional proof • So, to develop a case theory you need to determine what each witness can contribute to proving guilt or innocence, and what exhibits can be used to reinforce this contribution • Once you have isolated this information for each witness, you can develop your case theory

Case Theory Statements • The case theory statements themselves will be rather simple and vague – this will make it easier for the jury to understand • Generalize the contributions of each witness into a short phrase, then insert each phrase into this general template: • We believe that the defendant is guilty of _____ because he/she _____, and _____. • We believe that the defendant is NOT guilty of _______ because he/she ____, _____, and _____. • These are basic templates to start case theory statements with…you can pretty up the language later

Case Theory Statements – Why they are essential to case development • After you have created your case theory statement, you will use each part as a focus point for your witness questioning • After establishing who your witnesses are, the remainder of your questioning is based on that particular part of theory statement • It helps to narrow down which exhibits you will use with each witness • It helps to provide clarity to the jury (who have never heard of the case before) • It is something that you will tell them in the Opening Statement • You will refer back to each part during direct exam with each witness • You will repeat the case theory again in the Closing Statement