Here is the first set of q & as from the list serve. The info is important to incorporate into your preparations: Official Responses to Questions Posted to the Listserv: 1. How is a person supposed to get from the Blue line to the Green line if the doors are on the south side of both trains? p45 A. Exhibit 1 is a demonstrative layout of the station; teams can assume (as the affidavits suggest) that there are doors on both sides of both trains. 2. When using exhibits, such as Exhibit 1, may witnesses be asked to mark on the exhibit where they were standing, etc.? p45 A. Witnesses may indicate where they were standing, etc. so long as that information in his or her statement, or risk a Rule 4 - outside the scope ... objection. 3. Is there a date for when CCTD Handbook Policy 12.2 Use of Stun Guns and Other Non-Lethal Force went into effect? p57 A. This is a good question for teams to resolve on their own. If the case materials are silent on a specific date when the policy went into effect, a date will not be added. 4. Is there a chance that you would consider adding the Hearsay Exception 804-Declarant Unavailable to our Rules of Evidence? p90 A. Yes. Rule 804 and an explanation follow. All teams shall assume the following is included among the Federal Rules of Evidence - Mock Trial Version in the case materials. Rule 804 - Hearsay Exceptions; Declarant Unavailable (a) Criteria for Being Unavailable. A declarant is considered to be unavailable as a witness if the declarant: ... (4) cannot be present or testify at the trial or hearing because of death or a then-existing infirmity, physical illness, or mental illness ... (b) The Exceptions. The following are not excluded by the rule against hearsay if the declarant is unavailable as a witness: (1) Former Testimony. Testimony that: (A) was given as a witness at a trial, hearing, or lawful deposition, whether given during the current proceeding or a different one; and (B) is now offered against a party who had - or, in a civil case, whose predecessor in interest had - an opportunity and similar motive to develop it by direct, cross-, or redirect examination. Explanation. The deposition of Courtney Cruze has been taken in this case however Cruze passed away before trial. Under Rule 804(b)(1), testimony given by a witness in a deposition during the current proceeding is not excluded under the rule against hearsay when the witness is unavailable for trial, including by death. The accuracy and authenticity of the deposition transcript of this witness is stipulated. Attorney for any party may read relevant portions from this deposition to the jury at any time after opening statements have concluded. Such a reading from the deposition will not affect a partys right and obligation to call three other witnesses for live testimony. When one party reads from the deposition transcript, other than during closing argument, the other party may, if appropriate, make an objection. Time has been added to both direct/re-direct and cross/re-cross, 2 minutes and 1 minute, respectively. (Now 22 minutes for direct/re-direct, and 11 minutes cross/re-cross for each side.) Any portion of the deposition that was read during trial, may be referred to in closing argument by either party. 5. Complaint item #25 asserts Palmer was acting under the color of law; this point is accepted as stipulation #4, and also said to be stipulated in the jury instructions on page 18#1. However, in the Response to the Complaint the defense denies Complaint item #25. Seems the defense needs to admit if it is stipulated. p9 #25, p14 #4, p18#1 A. When the plaintiff made the Complaint and the defendants gave their Answer, their responses were correct for the timeframe (known as the pleading phase of the case) in which they were given. Later in the process the parties agreed to certain facts in the Stipulations. So, while the Complaint and Answer may seem inconsistent with the Stipulations, all are accurate during the phase of the case in which they were made. 6. It also seems page 35, line 8 needs to say the attacker ran onto the Blue Line C Rail instead of the Green Line C Rail. The rest of the description of events on page 35 makes much more sense if it is the Blue line, and furthermore, on page 7 #11 of the Complaint, which is admitted by the defense, it states that the officers waited for the train [singular] carrying Leon AND the attacker to arrive. This can only be a singular train with both people on it if they were BOTH on the Blue Line. p35 line 8, and p7 #11 A. The Complaint and Answer are allegations and responses made at the beginning of the case; they are not evidence. It is common that during the discovery phase of the trial (when witness statements are made) inconsistencies are revealed. At trial attorneys may question witnesses about inconsistencies. 7. What use can be made of Cruze deposition? May it be received into evidence? Passages read? Referred to in cross-examination? A. See Answer to Question 4, above, adding Rule 804 which will allow use of the Cruze deposition. 8. We were hoping to clarify the physical description that was provided to Lindsey Palmer in the dispatch she received before arresting Avery Leon. There are a few discrepancies over whether Palmer was informed of the gender of the suspect. Should we operate under the assumption that the gender was included in the physical description? A. If and when inconsistencies appear, attorneys may wish to question witnesses about them. 9. Where and for whom was Sandy Ensign employed as a beat cop in 1988 and detective in 2001? A. Rules 3 and 4, pages 70-71, are instructive if and when mock trial case materials are silent on certain facts. If a reasonable inference can be made regarding Ensigns employment history, then the witness may testify accordingly.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 05:09:13 +0000
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