Mark Exhibit Made Easy

Mark exhibit

so if you go out into real courts you go out and watch trials tomorrow you can see a million different ways that attorneys work with exhibits that in turn is go through the process of asking their funny questions about how to lay the foundation for exhibits and how they eventually get on to the most important part which is using that exhibit at trial we have this school and in this program offer you up an example of that we all care about an example that you know that will work out the world and will work in most courts on the world not to say that there are people that do a different more courts or judges that wanted a different way I want you to think about it in the following steps the first step is before you ever pick up a piece of paper that will be your exhibit at trial you provide context for that exhibit that is I want it to be with a whole room knows the judge knows the jury knows opposing tells knows they know what I'm talking about by the time I grab the exhibit in my hand before I curse the witness so I would actually ask questions of my witness about this do we develop a cover of the brochure but what size was that cover what was the picture that was depicted on that cover do we use words that we use a caption yeah I have all these contextual questions where everyone in the room knows that I'm talking about the cover of our summer trial and advocacy program they know that I'm talking about this exhibit because I've put it in context and I haven't muddled it together with a bunch of other testimony or questions about other exhibits once I get that point I've established proper context I didn't pick it up in hand and I then I go into now that it's introduced understand that it's not something that's shown to the jury it's a secret to the jury I want to get through the next steps that are the foundational steps with the witness all the way to admitting it into evidence all the way to publishing it so they can see it as quickly and efficiently as possible because I don't want this secret go on too long when the jury doesn't get in the benefit of seeing the exhibit that I have in my hand so we try to make this part as tight as possible I approach the witness your honor I am holding government's Exhibit one for identification may I approach I called it Exhibit one for identification because it's before it's in evidence it needs that tag for identification I assume that opposing counsel has seen it if not if they haven't seen it I need that in the record as well showing opposing counsel government's Exhibit one for identification may I approach eventually the stocking to mix up with the witness and I go for four very quick questions do you recognize it yes what is it this is the cover sheet to the program that we designed with a picture of the cityscape of San Francisco in the banner of the program composite how is it that you recognize this I recognized it because I had a hand in making it we got the image we put it on we made this part of our brochure is it a fair and accurate copy of this photo that you created as the top of this brochure it is it's very inaccurate at this time government moves government's Exhibit one for identification into evidence now there may be an evidentiary battle that ensues the may be an objection posed after is honor that's the point that hopefully the court says it will be received it will be admitted into evidence from that secret is over it can be revealed to the jury and my suggestion to you is as soon as you get that point as efficiently as you get through those steps of admitting in attendance you request to publish and the government published government's exhibit 1 now and evidence by VA by putting it on big screen and you do and when you get it up there if you're not quite done yet so you put it in context you've laid the foundation you've admitted into evidence you've requested to publish it you've got a lot of the board the last step is then to use this exhibit now that the jury is looking at the front of our brochure why did you pick this particular City landscape why did you think the black banner going across how did you decide that this was going to to cover of your summer child advocacy programs brochure I use it there was a reason why I wanted this exhibit as part of my case presentation that reason should be realizing the way I use it so ask contextual questions ask very tight foundational questions before do you recognize it what is it how do you recognize it isn't it substantially the same condition you then admit the document you then publish the document and most importantly once published once the secret is out you use data you