Name:_______________ Date:_____________

English 9 Ms.Klemstine

12 Angry Men Mock Trial

Spring Break Assignment

By the time we return from spring break, you should have a rough draft of either your
direct examination, cross examination, witness background (if you’re a witness), opening
statement and closing statement. The following information is geared to help you structure your
piece. Now I can’t give you examples from your trial, we will look at samples from another trial
to help you get started.

The examples are based on the following fact pattern:

On May 9, 2015, at approximately 9 PM at Westchester Square, Ms. Jane Martinez was

walking to the 6 train. She was listening to her iphone with her headphones on.
All of a sudden, a man, named John Doe, came running up to her. He was 6’0 with long blonde
hair in a ponytail and a tee shirt that said “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. On his face he had a
tattoo of Darth Vader.
The man grabbed Ms. Martinez’s iphone right out of her hand, yanking the headphones out of her
ears, and ran off towards East Tremont Avenue. Police officer Dan Smith happened to be
stationed on the corner. Ms. Martinez ran to him and explained what happened and gave him a
description of the defendant. PO Smith could see the the defendant running up the street. PO
Smith caught the defendant, and brought him up to Ms. Martinez. She positively identified the
defendant as the man who had robbed her.

SAMPLE DIRECT

Remember the point of direct is to get the witness to tell the good facts for your case. You must
stick with open-ended questions. (Who, what, when, where, why.) A direct examination should
sound like a conversation between you and the witness.
Think about when you ask your friend what happened to him/her last night- it’s not
confrontational – it’s curious.

Here is a sample direct for the victim, Ms. Martinez, by the PROSECUTOR.

1) WITNESS BACKGROUND (to make the witness an actual person, always the first step)
a. What is your name?
b. Where do you live?
c. Where did you attend school?
d. What is your job?
e. Do you have a family?

2) T/P/ 0 (time and place of occurrence) (First give the witness a chance to tell the story
herself briefly, then you go back and ask specifics.)
a. Drawing your attention to May 9, 2015, at approximately 9 PM, do you recall
where you were at that date and time?
b. Was that here in Bronx County?
c. Can you describe for us what happened to you at that date/time and location?
d. Ok Ms. Martinez you said a man ran up to you- what did he look like?
 3) IN COURT IDENTIFICATION
a. Do you see the man who ran up to you and stole your phone here in the
courtroom? Can you point him out by an article of clothing he is wearing?
LET THE RECORD REFLECT THAT THE WITNESS HAS IDENTIFIED
THE DEFENDANT, MR. JOHN DOE.
b. What distinguishing features did he have?
c. What happened when he ran up to you?
d. What happened after he took your phone? Where did you go?
e. Where did PO Smith go once you found him?
f. Finally Ms. Martinez, how has this whole incident made you feel?
THANK YOU, NO FURTHER QUESTIONS.

SAMPLE CROSS- EXAMINATION

At this point, the defense attorney would be able to CROSS -EXAMINE Ms. Martinez. Think of
this as what your mom does to you when you come home after curfew. It is confrontational.

Remember the acronym S.I.N.: Strengthen, neutralize, impeach. Unlike a direct examination
when you go in chronological order, you can attack this witness in any order of topics you like.
Try to come up with several cross examination categories and ask questions about those topics.

In general, there are some repeat categories which are topics for cross-examination:
1) mistaken ID/lack of opportunity to really observe
2) Witness disabilities – (glasses, hearing, etc) that could impair an accurate observation
3) Criminal background
4) Witness bias/motivation to lie

MISTAKEN ID

1)Ms. Martinez this happened at night correct?

2)It was dark out?
3)You had your headphones on.
4)The incident happened really quickly correct?
5)took about 10 seconds?
6)It took about ten minutes between the incident and the final identification of my client,
right?
7) You were understandably very upset about the robbery.
CRIMINAL RECORD

1. Ms. Martinez you were convicted of gang assault a year ago right?
2. The victim’s phone was stolen during the assault.
WITNESS IMPAIRMENT

1. Ms. Martinez you wear glasses.

2. You weren’t wearing them the night of the robbery.

WITNESS BIAS/MOTIVE TO LIE

1. You stated your ex boyfriend looked just like the defendant.

2. Your ex-boyfriend left you and stole all your credit cards.
3. You haven’t dated anyone with long blond hair and a Darth Vader tattoo since.