With the prevalence of "court shows" on television, many of our readers in Texas are familiar with the overall process of a civil jury trial. Trials start with jury selection, and then move through the steps of openings statements, the presentation of evidence, closing arguments, jury instructions, jury deliberation and then, hopefully, a verdict. Each step of a civil jury trial is crucial, but opening statements set the stage for what is to come, which means these statements can make or break a case.
So, what do our readers in Texas need to know about opening statements in trial? Well, for starters, it is important to understand that, although TV dramatizes things quite a bit, a jury trial is very much like a theater production, in a sense. The attorneys, their clients, and all of the witnesses in the case play a role, even when they are not speaking. Jury members oftentimes pay attention to every little detail as the production unfolds, such as, for example, how a defendant reacts to seemingly crucial testimony from another witness.