Why Your Trial Brief Should Be the First Thing You Draft When Preparing for a DUI Jury Trial
One of the most common fears I hear among young Defense Attorneys when it comes to prepping for a jury trial is where should I start.
Coming up with a gameplan helps to eleviate this stress, but knowing where to begin is another story.
In my opinion it is very important to begin trial prep on a DUI jury trial with the drafting of the trial brief.
For those that don't know a trial brief is document that is submitted to the Court and Prosecutor in advance of trial.
It outlines any pretrial rulings that were made, it includes motions in limine which sort of set the rules for the trial.
For example it would include a motion to exclude all witnesses when they are not testifying.
I believe it is important to first draft a trial brief when preparing for your trial for a couple of reasons.
First this is the initial item you will provide to the Court and Prosecutor when your trial starts.
Since it should be drafted and never orally presented it should be carefully worded and proof read.
The earlier you draft this documents the more time you can spend refining it, checking it for errors, and proof reading it.
Secondly it is probably the easiest part of the trial to prep for so it is a good starting point.
Often times litigating a jury trial can be quite daunting.
When you start thinking about the voir dire, the opening and closing, and the examinations this can become quite overwhelming.
So starting with something that is not as complicated is a good place to begin.
It gets the wheels in motion, get you to start thinking about your case, and is relatively easy to draft compared to those other items.
Lastly it expediates the process of trial.
When you're drafting your trial brief you are going to anticipate legal issues that may arise.
For example you might have an objection to some form of hearsay a witness may testify to.
By noting your objection in writing, and carefully wording your reasoning you're making a better record for appeal.
Additionally if you wait until the middle of trial to make an objection which would be heard in front of the jury, the cat is already out of the bag, and they have heard something maybe they shouldn't of.
Despite any curative instructions, and motions to disregard what was testified too, the jurors will always have it in the back of their mind.
Depending on the type of DUI case the trial brief can be fairly short or lengthy depending on the motions noted.
But the one good thing is after you have drafted your first one you will always have a template for drafting subsequent briefs.
Coming up with a gameplan helps to eleviate this stress, but knowing where to begin is another story.
In my opinion it is very important to begin trial prep on a DUI jury trial with the drafting of the trial brief.
For those that don't know a trial brief is document that is submitted to the Court and Prosecutor in advance of trial.
It outlines any pretrial rulings that were made, it includes motions in limine which sort of set the rules for the trial.
For example it would include a motion to exclude all witnesses when they are not testifying.
I believe it is important to first draft a trial brief when preparing for your trial for a couple of reasons.
First this is the initial item you will provide to the Court and Prosecutor when your trial starts.
Since it should be drafted and never orally presented it should be carefully worded and proof read.
The earlier you draft this documents the more time you can spend refining it, checking it for errors, and proof reading it.
Secondly it is probably the easiest part of the trial to prep for so it is a good starting point.
Often times litigating a jury trial can be quite daunting.
When you start thinking about the voir dire, the opening and closing, and the examinations this can become quite overwhelming.
So starting with something that is not as complicated is a good place to begin.
It gets the wheels in motion, get you to start thinking about your case, and is relatively easy to draft compared to those other items.
Lastly it expediates the process of trial.
When you're drafting your trial brief you are going to anticipate legal issues that may arise.
For example you might have an objection to some form of hearsay a witness may testify to.
By noting your objection in writing, and carefully wording your reasoning you're making a better record for appeal.
Additionally if you wait until the middle of trial to make an objection which would be heard in front of the jury, the cat is already out of the bag, and they have heard something maybe they shouldn't of.
Despite any curative instructions, and motions to disregard what was testified too, the jurors will always have it in the back of their mind.
Depending on the type of DUI case the trial brief can be fairly short or lengthy depending on the motions noted.
But the one good thing is after you have drafted your first one you will always have a template for drafting subsequent briefs.
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