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Tell Us A Story, But Don't Make It A Good One: Resolving The Confusion Regarding Emotional Stories And Federal Rule Of Evidence 403, Cathren Page Feb 2014

Tell Us A Story, But Don't Make It A Good One: Resolving The Confusion Regarding Emotional Stories And Federal Rule Of Evidence 403, Cathren Page

Cathren Page

Abstract: Tell Us a Story, But Don’t Make It A Good One: Resolving the Confusion Regarding Emotional Stories and Federal Rule of Evidence 403 by Cathren Koehlert-Page Courts need to reword their opinions regarding Rule 403 to address the tension between the advice to tell an emotionally evocative story at trial and the notion that evidence can be excluded if it is too emotional. In the murder mystery Mystic River, Dave Boyle is kidnapped in the beginning. The audience feels empathy for Dave who as an adult becomes one of the main suspects in the murder of his friend Jimmy’s …


Trial Tips: Structure In Direct Examination Wins Cases, J. Palmer Lockard Ii Dec 2007

Trial Tips: Structure In Direct Examination Wins Cases, J. Palmer Lockard Ii

J. Palmer Lockard II

Two issues are likely to create problems for the attorney in organizing the internal structure of the direct examination. First, new attorneys often follow a script when conducting direct examination. A second issue arises from the attorney's familiarity with the witnesses' testimony. Both of these problems can be alleviated by a simple strategy: The attorney must listen to the witness and use the witness' answer in formulating the questions.