Opening Statements in Florida Drug Crime Trials

Most defendants in drug crime cases do not go to trial, but the ones that do go in with a plan.  By the time the trial begins, your lawyer will have already thought about every witness you will summon and every question your lawyer will ask when examining your witnesses and cross-examining the prosecution’s witnesses.  Your lawyer might even have persuaded the court to exclude certain pieces of evidence, and if this is the case, your lawyer was able to do that by formulating persuasive arguments about why this evidence is inadmissible.  For defendants and lawyers involved in criminal cases, you can see the finish line in sight when the trial begins, but for the jury, the first moments of the trial are just the beginning.  During the opening statements, the jurors get their first impressions of the matters that have occupied your thoughts and your time for months.  To get a favorable outcome at your trial, or even to resolve your case without having to go to trial, contact a Florida drug offenses attorney.

Opening Statements Are the Table of Contents of a Criminal Case

Just as every book has a table of contents, every academic journal article has an abstract, and every opera has an overture, every criminal trial begins with opening statements.  The prosecutor, who has the burden of proof, makes the first statement, followed by the defense lawyer, whose goal is to establish reasonable doubt.  Both opening statements describe the events that led to the defendant receiving criminal charges, albeit with each statement from the perspective of the side making it.  Each opening statement also contains a thesis, a concisely stated reason why the jury should believe that the defendant is or is not guilty.  The opening statements also introduce the witnesses who will testify during the trial.  The opening statements do not ask the jury to make inferences.

Your Criminal Defense Lawyer Has the Right to Remain Silent

In a well written persuasive paper, the introduction and conclusion do not repeat each other verbatim, but they also do not contradict each other.  The same applies to the opening statements and closing arguments in a criminal trial.  In your opening statements, you must set the stage for the persuasive arguments you will make in your closing arguments.  In other words, you will have chosen your defense strategy at the beginning, and your lawyer will state it during the opening statements.

Defense lawyers sometimes choose not to make opening statements at all.  When they do this, it is usually because they think that it will be more effective if they state their reasons for doubting the defendant’s guilt after the jurors have heard the witness testimony instead of before.  They might want more flexibility about their closing arguments; they might want to see the reactions on the jurors’ faces as they listen to the testimony.

Contact FL Drug Defense Group About Drug Cases

A Central Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you start your trial off right with understandable opening statements.  Contact FL Drug Defense Group in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Sources:

law.cornell.edu/wex/opening_statement

uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/differences