Creating Easy Exhibits

During a trial, by far one of the most important parts in the success of your case is convincing the jury that your client is innocent. Jurors are very impressionable and how you present you and your client weighs a great deal on their decision. It is your job to ensure that the jurors clearly understand the points you are trying to make in your opening statement, or even your admittance of evidence as exhibits.

Potentially one of the most important parts of a defendant or plaintiff's case can be the evidence they provide. As the representing attorney, it is your job to make sure that the jurors clearly understand the exhibits and the relevance of each one to the case. The fate of your client lies within the hands of the jury and you want to ensure they are fully and clearly understanding the purpose of each exhibit and what they show. If the jury does not plainly see or understand the exhibit, the case could potentially end up in the other parties favor.

Document Exhibits

To begin, many people bring in documents for evidence showing specific relevance to the case. Said documents are usually normal size documents with smaller printing. With that being said, in order to make the document a strong exhibit in the case, be sure the following tips are met:

• Make sure the text is large enough for all members of the jury to read.
• Ensure the text is in bold color all members of the jury can see.
• Make sure the text is in clear font like Times New Roman for efficiency purposes so the jury can read clearly.
• Ensure the exhibit is labelled correctly in the order of presentation for the trial.

Following the tips listed above will assist you in properly presenting a document exhibit to the jury for your case. With said tips, the jurors should clearly understand the relevance of the document and hopefully will keep the exhibit in mind when determining their final decision.

Diagram Exhibits

In many cases, often times a lawyers use diagrams to make things easier for the jurors to understand clearly. After all, as a lawyer, we want to make the job of the jury as easy as possible so keeping things simple and clearly shown will help in the process. With diagrams there are a few things that every lawyer should keep in mind when organizing the diagrams to present to the jury:

• Make sure the diagram is large enough for all members of the jury to see clearly.
• Make sure the text on the diagram is proper size for the jury to see clearly.
• Ensure the text as well as the diagram are in dark bold colors for the jury to see clearly.
• Ensure your diagram is easy to understand and not overly complicated for the jury to understand.

The clarity and content of your diagram can be in your case. Make sure you are clearly communicating to the jury the relevance and facts of the diagram so there is no confusion made by the jurors. Keeping the exhibits simple and clear assists the jury in being a step closer to making an informative decision in the matter.

Physical Exhibits

In many cases often times physical evidence such as a weapon, may be submitted in a case as an exhibit. Such an exhibit requires a bit more attention and care than that of a document or diagram. Physical evidence needs to be maintained in the state it was found in. If there was blood on one end of the knife, the blood should remain on the knife at all times. The blood and the location it is found on the knife is vital in the presenting the knife as an exhibit to the jury. The jury will take how the visually see the knife to make a decision. When displaying physical evidence as an exhibit to the jury the following are few steps a lawyer should take to ensure the success of the exhibit:

• Make sure the evidence is left in the state it was found in so the jury can see it in it's original state.
• Ensure the exhibit is labelled correctly for the jury to see clearly.
• Ensure the jury clearly understands the relevance of the exhibit.

In many cases, a physical exhibit can make a case. All it takes is one look at a bloody glove, or in the case of OJ Simpson, the glove that did not fit, to sway the decision of the jury.

The jury is very impressionable and it is the your job as the representing lawyer to get the jury to understand your point of view through the exhibits provided. With that being said, it is very important to clearly label each exhibit correctly and speak as clearly and plainly as you can to the jury. Ensure they are understanding the exhibits as clear as day and your description and the importance of each rely greatly on how well you can present them. Following the above tips will provide you with a better understanding when developing your exhibits for your next case.