ATTORNEY TEAM INSTRUCTIONS

IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT ALL ATTORNEYS ATTEND THE ATTORNEY TRAINING SESSION.

Upstate Attorney Training Session – 11/19/07

Porter-Gaud – Fall 2007; Florence – Fall 2007

TRIAL CASE IS POSTED AT www.scymcayig.com;

APPEALS CASE POSTED, AND E-MAILED

YMCA Youth in Government attorney teams consist of four or five students from a school. Each trial team will be given a complete trial case, with the fact patterns, witness statements and all supporting evidence. Each team is responsible for preparing BOTH sides of the case, and will actually try both sides of the case. You will try one side of the case in the morning, and the other side of the case in the afternoon.

You will develop your witnesses from WITHIN your trial team. When you try your case, only two members of your team will serve as attorneys while the other two (or three) will serve as witnesses for your case. When you switch and try the other side of the case, you will switch and the team members who served as attorneys will become witnesses, and the witnesses will become lawyers. This change allows you to better prepare your case and your witnesses, because your trial team members serve as your witnesses.

Each attorney in the team will work together to prepare the appeals case, although only two attorney from each team are required to actually make the appeals argument. ALL attorneys in the team must be present in the Appeals Courtroom, however. And if all attorneys in the team would like to argue before the Appeals Court, that is fine.

Specifics about trials and appeals cases:

Trials will take about two hours each. There will be morning trials and afternoon trials. Trial teams will swap sides – from defense to prosecution – and try one side in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Appeals arguments last ten minutes for each side, with an optional five-minute rebuttal for the appellant side.
Judges in the trials will be adult attorneys, most of whom are Assistant US Attorneys. Theirs will be the final word in all courtroom disputes.
While the trial case is an actual Mock Trial Case, this is not an official Mock Trial Competition. Instead, the purpose of the YMCA Youth in Government trial program is to provide a hands-on learning experience for high school students to explore criminal and/or civil law and courtroom procedures. This is a teaching experience, not a competition.
A list of objections is included in your packet. These are the primary objections that will be used in the trials. Other objections are subject to approval and ruling by the judge.
Additional witnesses or evidence must be presented to the Resource Staff and trial judge for approval before being presented in the trial. Attorneys may not create new witnesses or new evidence that alters the facts of the case to an extent that it is no longer balanced.
The Appeals Court will be headed by student justices, who will be guided by adult attorneys. The purpose of the YMCA Youth in Government Appeals Court is to give high school students a hands-on learning experience into constitutional law and issues, and the procedure of an appellate court.
In the Appeals Court, students will be assigned a specific case and a specific side they are to argue in that case. While some students may be assigned a side of a case that they strongly disagree with, the function of the experience is to learn to read case law and apply it to the issue under consideration. It us understood that some students may be asked to argue in favor of or against a position that does not agree with their personal position.

SUMMARY OF PROCEDURE IN TRIAL COURT

Court is called to orderJudge announces the case, and the attorneys are introduced.
The judge states the charges against the defendant/nature of the case.
The prosecuting attorneys deliver opening statements.
The defense attorneys deliver their opening statements.
The prosecution calls their witnesses and conducts direct examination of those witnesses.
After each prosecution witness has been called and examined by the prosecution, the defense may cross-examine the witness.
After each cross-examination, the prosecution/plaintiff may conduct re-direct examination of its own witnesses if so desired.
The prosecution rests its case.
The defense calls its witnesses and conducts direct examination of those witnesses.
After each defense witness has been called and examined by the defense, the prosecution may cross-examine the witness.
After each cross-examination, the defense may conduct re-direct examination of its own witnesses if so desired.
The defense rests its case.
The prosecution delivers its closing arguments.
The defense delivers its closing arguments

OBJECTIONS

Attorneys may “object” either to the questions that the opposing attorneys ask, or to the answers the witnesses give. When making an objection, the attorney must stand and clearly state “Objection” and the reason for the objection. For instance, if a witness ask asked a question and adds information about which he has no person knowledge, the opposing attorney may say, “Objection. The witness lacks personal knowledge.” After the objection is stated, the judge will rule If the judge says the objection is “sustained” that means that the judge agrees with the attorney making the objection, and either the question or the answer must be restated. If the judge says the objection is “overruled” it means the judge has determined that the objection does not have merit. Remember – the judge’s ruling about this is final!

LIST OF OBJECTIONS TO QUESTIONS

Calls for an irrelevant answer.
Calls for an immaterial answer.
Calls for a conclusion by the witness.
Calls for an opinion by an inappropriate or incompetent witness.
Calls for a narrative answer.
Calls for a hearsay answer.
Leading the witness.
Repetitive (asked and answered.)
Beyond the scope (of the direct, cross, or re-direct examination.)
The question is confusing/misleading/ambiguous/vague or unintelligible.
Question calls for speculation.
The question is compound.
The question is argumentative.
The question calls for improper character evidence.
Lack of foundation.

LIST OF OBJECTIONS TO QUESTIONS

The witness lacks personal knowledge.
The answer creates a material fact not in the record.
The answer is irrelevant.
The answer is immaterial.
The answer is narrative.
The answer is unresponsive or volunteered.

APPEALS COURT

Each trial team must select at least two people to argue before the Appeals Court on the day the team is not trying their cases. All members of the Trial Team must help prepare the Appeals Case, and if all members choose to argue before the Appeals Court, that is fine. But the requirement is that at least two members of each Trial Team prepare and present arguments before the Appeals Court.

There are two separate appeals cases. The assignments are below. Each attorney will receive the cases via e-mail, and the cases will be posted on the YIG website at www.scymcayig.com. Separate instructions on how to prepare your case will follow, and students will receive extensive training at the November 20^th training session.