Your primary focus in preparing for trial is inevitably the
issues in the case. You may not focus much on “What will the jurors want to
know about this case?” because you figure they’ll want to know about--the
issues. Of course they will! But they’ll want a lot more than that.
Jurors want enough information to be able to construct a
coherent story of what happened. This is true regardless of the type of case,
and whether you’re defense or plaintiff. If you don’t give that information to
them, they’ll make it up for themselves. That fact alone should be enough to
give you nightmares.
For example, in an accident case involving any kind of
vehicle, jurors want to know the speed of the vehicle/s, whether the driver/s,
pedestrian or whoever else was involved had been drinking or taking drugs, and
the driving records of the parties involved.
Jurors want to know these factors regardless of whether
speed, drugs or driving records have anything to do with the case. It’s as if
the jurors' common sense demands that these facts be known before they can look
at other factors. Don’t for a moment assume that if alcohol, for example, is
not at issue, that simply not mentioning it is sufficient for the jurors.
Hardly! To the degree that the law allows, these factors and other "common
sense" issues should be made known.
From business cases to medical malpractice and everything in
between, jurors want information that allows them to reconstruct “what
happened,” even if liability is already stipulated. And in the absence of
having evidence of “what happened,” which occurs frequently, at the very least
your expert should have a strong opinion as to the most likely “what happened.”
