Jury Openings: Understanding the Rules

• Author: Joseph Y. Obagi
• Pages: 225-248



JuryOpenings

UnderstandingtheRules

Joseph Y. Obagi*

A. INT RODUCTION

Ithasbeen statedthat ajuryt rialis aghtand notana ernoontea

Thesewordshowevermustbe temperedbyt heunderlyingc urrentof

our jurisprudence that the ght must nonetheless be subject to t he

rulesoffairplay

Thisraisest hequestionofwhatisconsideredfairina juryaddress

Unfortunatelythere areno codied rules tohelp trial counsel answer

andresolvethisquestionTherearehoweverdirectivesarisingfromthe

jurisprudencenotnecessarilyconsistentwithoneanot herwhichnone-

thelessassisttrialcounselindeterminingwhatconstitutesfairplayIn

myopinionmanyofthesedirec tivesderivefromcommonsensewhile

othersareaproductofthetrialjudgesownsubjectiveviewofwhatmay

beprejudicialina nygivencircumstanceTheformerareeasilyidenti-

ableThelaerbeingmorediculttodiscerncanbesignicantlyprob-

lematicforanytrial counselandhavethe potentialtocause substantial

uneasegivensomeoft heconsequencesthatmightowfromajury ad-

dressfoundtobeinammatory

 JosephObagiisapart neratCooliganRyanLLPOawaHeiscertiedbytheLaw

SocietyofUpperCa nadaasaCivilLitigatio nSpecialist

 Dale v. Toronto R.W. CoOJNoatparaCADale

 Abdallah v. SnopekCarswel lOntatparaDivCtSnopek

JYO

InthispaperIhopetoassistthereaderinpreparinganeectiveand

passionateopeni ngaddress while avoiding someof the pitfalls which

haveresultedinmistrialsacros stheprovince

B THEPURPOSEANDINT ENTOFAN

OPENING ADDRESS

Whenoneconsiderswhatconstitutesfairplayinanopeningaddress

onemustrst placeoneself in theroleof the advocateandunderstand

thepurposeandintentoftheopen ingaddress

Theop en in gad dr ess is th e rst op por tu n it yfo rt hea dvo cat et oi ntr o-

ducehimselfthepartiesandtheissuestothejuryInherpaperTelling

theStoryinOpeningStatementBarbaraLegatemakesthestrongpoint

thatan averag eju rorm ayre qui ret hr eed aysto se lei nan dbe come com-

fortablewiththejudicia lprocessinwhic htheyplayacritica lroleThis

could be problematicfor both plai nti and defence counsel but espe-

ciallyforplaintiscounselwhoisexpectedtomartialhercaserstThe

openingstatementshouldt hereforeservethe dualpurposeof introdu-

cingthejurytothetrialprocessandtotheparticularfactsandissuesin

thecaseathandinaneect iveandmemorablemanner

Theopeningaddressistrialcounselsrstopportunitytogaincred-

ibilitywiththejurya ndintroducethethemeofthecaseThethemeis

criticalasitprovidesaconsistentthreadforthejurorstofollowandrely

uponin perceiving and assessing the evidenceintroduced throughout

the trial Jurors need a good story to grab thei r aentiona nda good

storyalwayshasastrongtheme

The theme is what the advocate wants every juror to remember

throughoutthecourse ofthetrial Agoodthemenotonlystandsoutin

thejurorsmindbutitalsobecomesthespectrumfromwhenceallofthe

evidenceisviewedand analyzedAsRogerOatleyw ritesinhi stexton

juryaddressesJurorsremembergoodthemesIfyoudonthaveagood

themeaju rorwill makeone upforyou anditmightbet heendof an

otherwisedeserv ingcase



Agoodthemeofcoursewillbeeectiveinthelongrunonlyifyou

areabletomarshal evidenceinsupportof thatthemeForthis reasonit

isimportantthatyouneveroverstateyourcasetothejuryinanopening

 BarbaraLegateTellingtheStor yinOpeningSt atementPaperpresente dtothe

OTLAMedicalMalpract iceSpringConfer enceAprilunpublished

 RogerGOatleyAddressing the JurydedAuroraONCanadaLawBookat

Oatley