Prosecutor Course project: The student will also conduct one well thought out power point presentation. The student will need to present arguments during a criminal trial from the position of the prosecution or defense: Each student will need to provide items in bold-see below. Students who have a last name that begins with the letters A-L will present arguments from the prosecution perspective. Students who have the last name that begins with the letters M-Z will present arguments from the defense perspective. The following is the case for this project. Case to be reviewed: Two men in Philadelphia are still on the run after driving a stolen SUV into a family selling fruit for their church, killing three young children. The AP reports that the men carjacked a women at gunpoint and forced her into the back seat of her Toyota 4Runner. They spun out of control only a mile away, crashing into a family selling fruit at a stand on a street corner. Philadelphia Homicide Captain John Clark confirmed that the slain children were 7, 10, and 15 years old. Police commissioner Charles Ramsey issued a statement, saying: "There are no words to describe how I feel right now, but we do need to find these two guys." Fox reports that the 34-year-old mother of the children is in critical condition, as is the 45-year-old carjacking victim. As police continue their search, over $100,000 in rewards are being offered for the capture of the two men. A criminal trial has several phases: Jury selection - A pool of potential jurors is gathered, and asked a number of questions. The prosecution and defense each can choose to exclude a certain number of people from the jury. Prosecutor- Who is the \"ideal\" juror to help you solidify your case against the defendants? Why? o Who do you try to avoid having on your jury? Why? Defense- Who is the \"ideal\" juror to help your client \"beat the charges?\" Why? Opening statements - Each side presents an overview of the case, from their perspective. The prosecution goes first, followed by the defense. Prosecutor- Your responsibility is to provide evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the 2 defendants are guilty of murder. Defense- Your responsibility is to provide evidence your clients are not guilty of murder. Witness testimony - Each side can call witnesses and ask them questions about the case and/or the defendant. First, the prosecution calls their witnesses, who can then be cross examined by the defense. Then, the defense calls their witnesses, who can be cross examined by the prosecution. Prosecutor- What questions would you ask the witnesses? Why (rationale for the question)? Defense- Would you call any witnesses? If so, who and why? o Do you allow your clients to testify on their behalf? Why, why not? If so, what questions would you ask them? Both- What questions would you ask during cross examination? Closing arguments - The prosecution, and then the defense, make a brief statement summarizing their side of the case. Prosecutor- Closing argument. Defense- Closing argument. Jury Instruction - The judge addresses the jurors, explaining to them the crime the defendant was charged with, and the legal standard they must apply when deciding whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of committing that crime. Verdict - The jury weighs the evidence presented, applies the proper legal standard, and decides whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. The power point needs to be at least 10 slides. Be creative, but be sure to answer all of the questions thoroughly. Prosecution Opening Statement Presented by University of Introduction Ideal juror for my case As the prosecutor, during voir dire, it is best to identify the jurors that will pose the greatest threat for my case. However, this purpose is achieved through written questionnaires and verbal questions. First and foremost, my ideal potential juror must have no access to print media, television and the internet that can reveal any evidence on the case. That is, the potential juror's social media sites must be deficient of any post related to the trial, the case must not be discussed with outsiders. My best jurors must rely on the evidence I table out in the courtroom and not on opponent's misinformation or misconceptions. Additionally, a written questionnaire permits me to query and elicit background information on potential jurors. Through this process I can identify bias before the beginning of oral questioning. The questionnaires I hand out will reveal the juror's age, employment, race, education, marital status, experiences, hobbies, opinions and prior lawsuits. Based on these facts, the ideal juror must be the kind of juror that answers my open-ended questions accurately in order to build a rapport and get him or her talking freely. After reviewing the completed questionnaires, my best juror must understand the standard of my language that my evidence is beyond a reasonable doubt and I must win the case. Hence, they must be fair, accept my version of the case and return a verdict of guilty in my favor. This technique of voir dire helps me understand the mindset of my jury and solidify the optimal outcome of my case. In this case, bad jurors must be avoided at all cost n my case simply because they may have prejudiced point of view. Particularly, jurors who have no interest in my case and are too in a hurry to get a verdict so they can excuse themselves to leave. OPENING STATEMENT Opening statement by Prosecutor in the Murder Trial John Clark October 12th, 2016 Mr. Clark: Thank you your honor. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury may it please the court that this trial is an indictment of murder. May it please the court to know that on June 25 th, 2015, one crispy cold morning while the white clouds dawned clearly in Philadelphia State workers were set in their offices, happy to attend to their activities. However, my most esteemed jurors that beautiful normal day and weather turned out to be a horror. Three innocent children were killed instantly for no apparent reasons. On this day, 25 th of June 2015, these merciless defendants made some bad choice. Actually, these murderers carjacked my plaintiff, a woman at gunpoint and literally with force, bundled her like a log of wood into the back seat of her Toyota 4Runner. As they sped off, the brake failed and they lost control of the car. Subsequently, they spun off just a mile away from the scene of the accident. Then, they committed the most gruesome crime, the car they had stolen crashed into a family selling their fruits at a stand just very close to a Opening Statement street corner, killing three of their children age seven, ten and fifteen years respectively. It is so sad that these children will never see the blissful faces of their loved ones again. My dear jurors, the two killers are guilty. Your duty is to decide their punishment and that they are beyond reasonable doubt eligible for life imprisonment. Your honor, the only reason why these children are no longer with us, and moreover, their thirty-four year old mother is in critical condition in the hospital including the forty-five year old carjacked victim, is that the defendants had premeditated intention to kill. As a matter of fact, there is sufficient solid evidence that they designed their plan over months and years before the actual day of crime. My beloved jurors, the killers chose to steal and kill innocent lives in order to serve their twisted devilish purpose. In simple layman's language, this is an act of terror, violence and intended murder with criminal purpose. They fled the scene after committing the crime. Gentlemen of the jury allow me to introduce the evidence that prove beyond reasonable doubt every element of the charged crime. First, I have an affidavit containing a witness offer of proof. Here, I have evidence of photograph of defendants' drawings, short-guns and a blue shirt stained with blood from the crime scene. Additionally, a old lady, who witnessed the scene was able to video record the movements. This is the video recorder. Other physical evidence includes forensic tests, DNA fingerprints and ballistics of defendants that links them to the crime scene. Also included in this test are defendants' blood, hair and saliva sample. In addition, I would like to submit the lawsuit case of one the defendant's in a prior case of burglary conviction. It is my burden to prove that we are not prosecuting these murders because we hate them, we are prosecuting them because they ha aforementioned case. Hence, we intend to persist in our effort as a team to bring the culprit and make them face the wrath of the law. Because they had intent to take lives of innocent young children and cause deadly injure on my client. As you know, we represent the United States of America in this Witness Testimony-Fingerprint Expert Q: Can you please tell the court your name and please confirm that you're the finger print expert. Q: Can you tell us what is the standard method used by fingerprint examiners? Q: Kindly explain to the jurors if the defendants' fingerprints match the sample collected for the crime scene? Q: So, is it true that the fingerprints match the defendants? And can you say they are unique? Q: Can tell the honorable jurors if the fingerprints on the defendant's blue shirt is exactly the same from the crime scene. Cross- Examination Cross- examination of defendant's witness - Mother of one of the defendants. In the cross-examination, I would use the blue shirt found at the crime scene and document of previous lawsuit conviction to confront the defendant's witness. Q: You testified in your direct statement that your son had never been convicted of any crime. Q: Do agree that you were the primary case agent in this investigation? And did you narrate all? Q: Tell us what you did that day when you heard the AP report on the death of the three children? Q: How did you respond, I mean what was your sudden reaction? Q: Did you recall that your son was convicted of theft and sentenced to six months imprisonment? Q: Would like to see the evidence and documents that proves it? I am handing the document to you and please look at the last paragraph. Q: By the way, one of your neighbors saw you burying some items at your backyard? Q: Can you tell the court what you were doing exactly 11.a.m? Q: Do you recognize this blue shirt and gun? Q: My honor and honorable jurors, I would like to this document and blue shirt as the next exhibit. This is an extremely important evidence I am going to talk about and use in the course of this case. Prosecutor Closing Statement My honorable judge and jurors, they say, '' the beginning is in the end and the end depends upon the beginning.'' If you recall my opening statement, I told you that I would stand before you again to witness the end and verdict of this criminal case. As you have seen in the course of these past weeks and months, my colleagues and I presented a lot of evidence against these criminals who killed three innocent children and viciously harmed my client intentionally. To this indictment, they have pleaded not guilty. Hence, based on the facts and evidence presented before you, you must find them guilty for this barbaric murder. I implore you to use your power of reasoning and common sense to draw your inferences from all we have said and tendered as evidence. This is a case of robbery and murder