An Upcoming State Trial

An Upcoming State Trial

            The prosecution of an $85 million scam was scheduled to take at least six weeks. It is a case of four former Pilot Flying J executives and assistants who remain at the defense table (Satterfield, 2017). Assistant U.S Attorney Trey Hamilton and prosecutor David Lewen told District Judge Curtis L. Collier of United States, that the upcoming trial of four former Pilot Flying J executives and assistants could take four weeks for the case to be heard in the court (Satterfield, 2017). The prosecution process is paramount in a legal system despite the time taken to establish a Jury who take a critical responsibility in considering a criminal justice process that performs for the advantage of the ordinary people rather than unfair leaders.

The jury selection process for the state case summoned an estimated number of 100 potential jurors. The District Judge Curtis L. Collier of U.S advocated for at least 21 of them to claim the jury docket (Satterfield, 2017). He stated that the defense panel should get 12 jurors and four alternatives. Subsequently, prosecutors and defense attorneys were allowed to research “publicly recent information” concerning potential jurors. They were permitted to search social media sites as part of the jury selection process (Satterfield, 2017). In our case study of the upcoming state trial, I will be representing the defense side.

Article 3 of the U.S Constitution states categorically the significance of jury system confined with the trials of all crimes apart from the cases of impeachment (Frederick, 2018). The jury system in the U.S gives jurors aid and comfort, in levying war and adhering to their enemies convicted over treason against the United States. According to Frederick (2018), the declaration of the punishment of treason but limited to attainder of betrayal is a clause upheld to the Congress in article 3 of U.S constitution.

The preparation of the trial encompasses several steps to be followed. The first step is the presentation where a lawyer should have one -sentence theme for the case (Frederick, 2018). Telling a story of the case will follow as it enables the jury to understand what happened chronologically. The Next step is to assemble the facts persuasively, which facilitates the conclusion of the case. As per Frederick (2018), making a connection with the individual jurors will be another step which shows that the lawyer believes in a specific case where the issue is well informed.

Trial judges often have specific methods while selecting a jury system. Choosing a competent jury will begin with research conducted by a lawyer (Conrad & Clements, 2018). Lawyers ask several questions designed to establish the fairness of a panel. According to Conrad & Clements (2018), a non-discriminatory justification is another tool applied by a judge to a lawyer if at all, there is suspiciousness of peremptory challenges to the jurors.

To effectively convince the jury in a first opening statement, a lawyer should avoid wasting time to get in to the theme. Arguments are improper during opening statements (Conrad & Clements, 2018). Therefore, jurors should not be allowed to form an opinion which creates space for discussion, thus becoming accessible to convince effectively (Conrad & Clements, 2018). Personalizing your client will amount to effective persuasion to the jury, which entails clarifying the client’s motivation, thus enabling the panel to feel familiar with the client.

The two verdict options of any state trial which enable the jurors as a group to consider a case through deliberation are based on; “being guilty” which states that if the plaintiff claims on defendant are valid, the defendant should be prosecuted (Frederick, 2018). The second verdict option is “not guilty,” which implies that if the plaintiff’s case had no legitimacy test, the defendant should not be held accountable. If so, there is an attachment of compensation to the defendant for any damages caused.

Conclusion

Assistant U.S Attorney Trey Hamilton and prosecutor David Lewen told District Judge Curtis L. Collier of United States that the upcoming trial of four former Pilot Flying J could take four weeks to be heard. The prosecution of an $85 million scam was scheduled to take at least six weeks. The District Judge Curtis L. Collier of U.S advocated for at least 21 of the potential jurors. The declaration of the punishment of treason but limited to attainder of betrayal is a clause upheld to the Congress in article 3 of U.S constitution. When preparing for a trial case, a theme will make the information easier to comprehend. Lawyers ask several questions designed to establish the fairness of a panel. To effectively convince the board in a first opening statement, a lawyer should avoid wasting time to get into the theme. The two verdict options of any state trial include; “being guilty” and “not guilty.”

References

Conrad Jr, R. J., & Clements, K. L. (2018). The Vanishing Criminal Jury Trial: From Trial                             Judges to Sentencing Judges. Geo. Wash. L. Rev., 86, 99.

Frederick, J. T. (2018). Mastering voir dire and jury selection: Gain an edge in questioning and     selecting your jury. American Bar Association.

Satterfield, J. (2017). Judge OKs social media searches on potential jurors in Pilot Flying J rebate fraud case. Knox News. Retrieved from https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/crime/2017/10/16/judge-oks-social-media-searches-potential-jurors-pilot-flying-j-rebate-fraud-case/763478001/