Use Stories to Create a Great Opening Statement in Court

in this video we'll discuss some key principles about how to prepare a great opening statement for court that's coming up right after this welcome Dukas titus law if this is your first visit here I'm Steve Gus Titus and this is my channel our passion here at Gaston is law is to provide you with weekly videos just like this one about how to successfully navigate the criminal justice system how to manage encounters that you may have with the police and had to defend criminal charges if you like the video today give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing to the channel by clicking on a capital black and white G down in the lower right hand corner of the video screen and like always if you have a question or a comment about the video today add that down in the comment section below and I'll be happy to respond the opening statement is your first opportunity to tell the jury what you believe the case is all about some refer to the opening statement as a roadmap to what they think the evidence will show during the trial I prefer to use the opening statement as an opportunity to give my clients story a story is the device that best helps the jury to comprehend and retain the case it's the memory device for organizing understanding and retaining facts and ideas it's also used by the jury to help them determine whether or not they will accept the case as plausible since they will take the story and evaluate it against their own ideas about how the world works that's why great opening statements are always built around the idea of a story importantly opening statement is not the time for you to argue your case to the jury the jury is not yet prepared for your arguments argument comes later when the judge gives you an opportunity to make your closing remarks after all the evidence has been admitted during the trial using the story device during the opening statement is more of a soft sell it puts the case into some context for the jury to help them to evaluate and to process the evidence as they hear the evidence in the case they will use your story as a guide to help them decide whether or not the case is plausible and whether or not is it is persuasive to them and the more detail that you provide in the story the better a detailed opening statement can be persuasive to a jury because the more detail that you provide the more credible that you appear but there are some pitfalls to avoid during opening statement as well that's especially true when you try to oversell your case during your opening remarks by promising the jury something that you fail to deliver later in the trial my advice is always to under promise during opening yet over-deliver during the trial that way you maintain your credibility with the jury by giving them what they expect after they've heard your story for the first time during your opening statement so always give an opening statement when you can prosecutors go first and they should give an opening statement as well immediately follow their opening remarks with your story outlining your theory of the case if the prosecutor waives their opening you may need to wait until your case-in-chief before you can give your opening remarks to the the secret to a great opening statement is to use the story device to help the jury put the case into context and to give them a guide to help them process and evaluate the evidence as they hear it give plenty of detail during your opening statement but avoid the pitfalls don't oversell your case never promise facts that you cannot deliver during the trial if you do your credibility will suffer and the jury will make you pay if you can think of any ways to prepare a great opening statement why don't you add those down in the comment section below and we can begin a discussion that may help other people to give the video a thumbs-up today and don't forget to subscribe to Cass Titus law thank you for watching

Channel: Gustitis Law

Views: 10,395

Keywords: opening statement in court, opening statement, opening statement trial, opening statement defense criminal, story, stories, best criminal attorneys, Bryan, College Station, jury, defense attorney, gustitislaw, opening statement for criminal defense., Criminal Defense Attorney, criminal law, criminal defense, brazos county, best defense tactics, criminal defense strategies, criminal defense lawyer, criminal defense attorneys, criminal defense lawyers, criminal lawyer, court, trial

Id: W_m3iCkaiqg

Length: 5min 27sec (327 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 11 2019