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Cards (11)

  • In a criminal trial defence can be asked to lead evidence because it is the Crown's burden to prove its case
  • At the end of all the Crown's evidence, may be the case that the Crown hasn't met burden of proof, haven't established accused is guilty
  • The defence could say it believes the accused (the Crown) has not proved the accused to be guilty + stop right there and not lead evidence
  • In a mock trial, the defence will always lead evidence
  • When the judge asks if the defence plans to lead evidence in a mock trial, the defence should always say Yes
  • Sometimes the accused will have a previous criminal record and the defence will have to decide whether they want to introduce themselves into evidence or wait until the Crown introduces it
  • One of the key factors of introducing previous criminal record on the accused is how bad it will make them look

  • Defence can bring it up to show that the accused has nothing to hide
  • The closing statement is at the end of the case when all the evidence has been given and the lawyer has the opportunity to review the case and the evidence that's been given to argue a case a certain way that will be persuasive to the judge
  • You don't want to give the judge every detail because not all of it is very important, what you should do is give the judge a summary of the most important evidence the judge heard on the key issues
  • Don't introduce evidence during the closing statement