{"id":4792,"date":"2014-07-17T22:19:48","date_gmt":"2014-07-18T05:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792"},"modified":"2014-07-18T13:51:26","modified_gmt":"2014-07-18T20:51:26","slug":"speaking-jurors-evidence-presented-opening-statements-closing-arguments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792","title":{"rendered":"Speaking to Jurors Before and After the Evidence is Presented – Opening Statements and Closing Arguments"},"content":{"rendered":"

During a civil or criminal trial, \u00a0lawyers are allowed to make opening statements to jurors before evidence is presented and closing \"LADYJUSTICE\"<\/a>arguments after both parties have finished presenting testimony and evidence.<\/p>\n

But what is the difference between opening statements and closing arguments?<\/p>\n

Here, the United States Courts’ web site explains:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Each party in a jury trial has a right to speak directly to jurors once before and once after the evidence is presented. Those two sets of remarks serve distinct purposes and are governed by different rules.”<\/p>\n

“Opening Statement<\/strong>: The opening statement at the beginning of the trial is limited to outlining facts. This is each party’s opportunity to set the basic scene for the jurors, introduce them to the core dispute(s) in the case, and provide a general road map of how the trial is expected to unfold.”<\/p>\n

“Absent strategic reasons not to do so, parties should lay out for the jurors who their witnesses are, how they are related to the parties and to each other, and what each is expected to say on the witness stand. Opening statements include such phrases as, \u201cMs. Smith will testify under oath that she saw Mr. Johnson do X,\u201d and \u201cThe evidence will show that Defendant did not do Y.\u201d Although opening statements should be as persuasive as possible, they should not include arguments. They come at the end of the trial.”<\/p>\n

“Closing Argument<\/strong>: Only after the jury has seen and heard the factual evidence of the case are the parties allowed to try to persuade them about its overall significance. Closing arguments are the opportunity for each party to remind jurors about key evidence presented and to persuade them to adopt an interpretation favorable to their position.<\/p>\n

At this point, parties are free to use hypothetical analogies to make their points; to comment on the credibility of the witnesses, to discuss how they believe the various pieces of the puzzle fit into a compelling whole, and to advocate why jurors should decide the case in their favor.<\/p>\n

What is the key difference?<\/p>\n

Go to the United States Courts web site<\/a> and find out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During a civil or criminal trial, \u00a0lawyers are allowed to make opening statements to jurors before evidence is presented and closing arguments after both parties have finished presenting testimony and evidence. But…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[672,671],"class_list":["post-4792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tips-trivia-and-tidbits","tag-closing-arguments","tag-opening-statements"],"yoast_head":"\nSpeaking to Jurors Before and After the Evidence is Presented - Opening Statements and Closing Arguments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"During a civil or criminal trial, \u00a0lawyers are allowed to make opening statements to jurors before evidence is presented and closing arguments after both\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Speaking to Jurors Before and After the Evidence is Presented - Opening Statements and Closing Arguments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During a civil or criminal trial, \u00a0lawyers are allowed to make opening statements to jurors before evidence is presented and closing arguments after both\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Justice Notebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-18T05:19:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-07-18T20:51:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/LADYJUSTICE-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4792#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4792\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Raul\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\"},\"headline\":\"Speaking to Jurors Before and After the Evidence is Presented – Opening Statements and Closing Arguments\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-18T05:19:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-07-18T20:51:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4792\"},\"wordCount\":372,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4792#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/LADYJUSTICE-150x150.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Closing Arguments\",\"Opening Statements\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Tips Trivia and Tidbits\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4792#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4792\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4792\",\"name\":\"Speaking to Jurors Before and After the Evidence is Presented - Opening Statements and Closing Arguments\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4792#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4792#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/LADYJUSTICE-150x150.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-18T05:19:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-07-18T20:51:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"During a civil or criminal trial, \u00a0lawyers are allowed to make opening statements to jurors before evidence is presented and closing arguments after both\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4792\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4792#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/LADYJUSTICE.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/LADYJUSTICE.jpg\",\"width\":274,\"height\":240},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"description\":\""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"width\":675,\"height\":231,\"caption\":\"American Justice Notebook\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\",\"name\":\"Raul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Raul\"},\"description\":\"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Speaking to Jurors Before and After the Evidence is Presented - Opening Statements and Closing Arguments","description":"During a civil or criminal trial, \u00a0lawyers are allowed to make opening statements to jurors before evidence is presented and closing arguments after both","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Speaking to Jurors Before and After the Evidence is Presented - Opening Statements and Closing Arguments","og_description":"During a civil or criminal trial, \u00a0lawyers are allowed to make opening statements to jurors before evidence is presented and closing arguments after both","og_url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792","og_site_name":"American Justice Notebook","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook","article_published_time":"2014-07-18T05:19:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-07-18T20:51:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/LADYJUSTICE-150x150.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Raul","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Raul","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792"},"author":{"name":"Raul","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0"},"headline":"Speaking to Jurors Before and After the Evidence is Presented – Opening Statements and Closing Arguments","datePublished":"2014-07-18T05:19:48+00:00","dateModified":"2014-07-18T20:51:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792"},"wordCount":372,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/LADYJUSTICE-150x150.jpg","keywords":["Closing Arguments","Opening Statements"],"articleSection":["Tips Trivia and Tidbits"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792","name":"Speaking to Jurors Before and After the Evidence is Presented - Opening Statements and Closing Arguments","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/LADYJUSTICE-150x150.jpg","datePublished":"2014-07-18T05:19:48+00:00","dateModified":"2014-07-18T20:51:26+00:00","description":"During a civil or criminal trial, \u00a0lawyers are allowed to make opening statements to jurors before evidence is presented and closing arguments after both","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4792#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/LADYJUSTICE.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/LADYJUSTICE.jpg","width":274,"height":240},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","name":"American Justice Notebook","description":""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization","name":"American Justice Notebook","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","width":675,"height":231,"caption":"American Justice Notebook"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0","name":"Raul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","caption":"Raul"},"description":"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.","sameAs":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4792"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4800,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4792\/revisions\/4800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}