Role Play- Prosecution Opening-Closing Statements Case Strategy

I would love to hear everyone's idea of what they would use as an opening statement to a jury if they were the prosecution? Anyone want to Role Play?

For example:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury......On July 15, 2008, Caylee Marie Anthony was reported missing by her grandmother. Caylee's mother explained to law enforcement that she had left Caylee with a babysitter and that babysitter wouldn't return her, and she hasn't seen her daughter in 31 days. On December 11, 2008....the decomposed body of Caylee Marie was found less than a half mile from the residence she shared with her mother Casey, and grandparents. Forensic Analysis will prove that the little girl Caylee was deceased on or about June 16, 2008. The last person to have seen little Caylee alive was her grandfather on June 16, 2008 when he saw her leave the residence with her mother. The State contends and will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was in fact Casey Anthony who killed her daughter Caylee.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

31 days, 31 days it took for anyone to call LE for a missing beautiful little 2 1/2 year old girl. 31 days and the mother, KC, never once called LE to find her. Nothing the defense can offer you will be truthful. Nothing the defendant has ever said has been truthful. In fact, in order to assist LE in finding her daughter, she wastes their time parading them to her place of employment that she did not have. 31 days....I rest my case

I'd just read CA's myspace entry..."My Calyee is Missing" and then announce The Prosecution rests!

Cindy's words, back when she was truly concerned about the truth, explain everything.

Thursday, July 03, 2008
my caylee is missing

Current mood: distraught

She came into my life unexspectedly, just as she has left me. This precious little angel from above gave me strength and unconditional love. Now she is gone and I don’t know why. All I am guilty of is loving her and providing her a safe home. Jealousy has taken her away. Jealousy from the one person that should be thankfull for all of the love and support given to her. A mother’s love is deep, however there are limits when one is betrayed by the one she loved and trusted the most. A daughter comes to her mother for support when she is pregnant, the mother says without hesitation it will be ok. And it was. But then the lies and betrayal began. First it seemed harmless, ah, love is blind. A mother will look for the good in her child and give them a chance to change. This mother gave chance after chance for her daughter to change, but instead more lies more betrayal. What does the mother get for giving her daughter all of these chances? A broken heart. The daughter who stole money, lots of money, leaves without warning and does not let her mother now speak to the baby that her mother raised, fed, clothed, sheltered, paid her medical bills, etc. Instead tells her friends that her mother is controlling her life and she needs her space. No money, no future. Where did she go? Who is now watching out for the little angel?


That would be the SA, and those of us who pray for justice.

With the "evidence" that we now know of...and we know there is more to come...if you were the Prosecuting Attorney...what would be your opening statement? With our understanding of Means, Motive and Opportunity...and without definitive DNA/fingerprints to key items/actual evidence to ...how would you address the jury at the start of the trial?

I am not an attorney (are there any here on WS)....but I would have to open with the 31 days missing and CA's "smells like there has been a dead body in the damn car" statement and methodically build the timeline...

Casey Anthony killed Caylee Anthony. Waste......huge waste.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Casey lied and Caylee died.

If the evidence fits, you cannot acquit.

I would slowly count to 31 then go from there.

kew17 said:

Ladies and Gentlemen:

31 days, 31 days it took for anyone to call LE for a missing beautiful little 2 1/2 year old girl. 31 days and the mother, KC, never once called LE to find her. Nothing the defense can offer you will be truthful. Nothing the defendant has ever said has been truthful. In fact, in order to assist LE in finding her daughter, she wastes their time parading them to her place of employment that she did not have. 31 days....I rest my case

Click to expand...

31 days. The only true statement KC has made regarding her daughter Caylee. 31 days. The rest is just pizza, bamboo, shovels, and really weirdo squirrels. That climb into people's cars and cause hideous odors. Though no such evidence of squrirels can be found. Maybe it was snot...or a little snot head...as KC referred to her daughter on at least one ocassion. One thing can be said, there are no other suspects. Roy Kronk found her body, sure...but didn't know the defendent nor Caylee before her demise. So that cancels him out. Let's not forget DC stabbing garbage bags looking for what? Let's not forget her grandparent's eating a high priced meal on ABC's tab while tiny bones were found. Let's not forget KC's reaction to said toddler being found WELL BEFORE THE REMAINS WERE EVEN IDENTIFIED. Stick a fork in this pork chop.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have been brought together as a result of the failure of a mother to report her daughter missing.... A mother that to this day, stands by her statement that her child has been kidnapped at the hand of a caregiver that she trusted to protect her child.... At the hand of a caregiver that not one person has been able to prove even exists or ever existed. THis mother, when forced to face the issue of a missing child, chose to lie, lead astray, and otherwise distract the very people that were attempting to locate her missing child. The extent of Ms. Anthony's truthful statements have not reached beyond her full name, date of birth, and current address. Ms. Anthony, for reasons unknown, has failed to offer any information that could explain what really happened to her daughter, Caylee Marie. THis mother, when confronted with evidence of her lies, has lied again in a more grandiose fashion to attempt to cover her previous lies. We shall prove that not only is this mother responsible for the death of her child, Caylee Marie, but that she has invested considerable time and energy in an attempt to cover her tracks. Her actions demonstrate premeditation, as well as motive, and opportunity. The smoke and mirrors that the defense will present, are little more than an attempt to distract you from the facts at hand. The defense will attempt to discredit forensics, expert testimony, entymology, computer forensics, et al...but at the end of the trial....we are confident that their attempt to discredit testimony based upon technicalities, will be apparent. The State of Florida is confident that you, members of the jury, will be able to filter out distractions, and focus on evidence presented as a whole. The State of Florida recognizes your ability to be responsible, thoughtful jurors, as opposed to the defense which assumes you are mere puppets in their "comedy of errors".

Gentle people of the jury, you willingly and nobly join us here today to seek justice on behalf of the state of Florida for a beautiful, tragically slain 2 year old child.

I ask that throughout this trial you keep several things fresh in you mind.
The image of a curious 34 month old bright, doe eyed little girl. The image of a very loved little girl. Tucked in at night, read her favorite stories, singing songs, playing games and the excitement throughout the home as she overcame her "firsts".
First breath, first bath, first words, first steps... As all children should feel, safe in the place she knew as home and had lived in all of her life.
Surrounded by her young first time mother, looked after frequently by her proud grandmother and grandfather as well as weekly visits from her uncle.

Now I'd like you to imagine this same precious, indulged child who was first reported missing by her frantic grandmother 31 days after her own mother claims she last saw her.

For most of us, the forest was a place that as children we'd play and stretch our imaginations to their limits. Climbing trees, building forts, inventing games... But for this toddler, the forest became a resting spot full of her tiny scattered bones and secrets.
Her little skeletonized body discovered by a stranger 6 months after reported missing, tossed aside in a garbage bag on the side of a dead end road. Shielded by Orlando's thick, wild vegetation amongst discarded bags and items of trash a mile from that home she and her mother had grown up in. Duct tape over her mouth and nose. Murdered 2 months before she was to celebrate her third birthday.

The prosecution will present the events that lead up to her murder, as well as who the evidence points to as her murderer.

The child's mother has lied to law enforcement since they responded to the 911 calls. She has never called the police herself to report her child missing. She has changed her story. Invented fictitious characters and locations and then was so bold as to claim law enforcement was not doing their part to locate her allegedly missing baby.

A baby who's name was Caylee Marie Anthony and over these weeks, you will learn the story of her life and the facts of her untimely calculated death at the hands of her own mother, Casey Anthony because she was simply in the way of a very cold hearted 22 year old woman.

Day one. This is the first day that you will hear the voice of Caylee Marie Anthony speaking. You will hear of the diary of days, the 31 days and 55 days. But this is the important day; the day that begins the journey to justice for Caylee.

. . . Then all that wonderful smart stuff that slutherontheside said!!!!

I'd begin by showing the pole dancing pic in one hand and a pic of the bones found in the woods and say this is what was going on in those 31 days that no one even knew the child was missing except for the last one to see her alive. One was partying and the other was decomposing. Then, some sort of speech about how it will be proven that this was a premeditated murder.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury

I would like to thank you all for being hear to bring justice to a beautiful 2 year old girl who had her life taken from her just 55 days before her 3rd birthday, a loving bright adorable child who never saw three candles on her birthday cake, As we go forward in the days to come I ask that you all remember birthdays and holidays with toddlers you have celebrated with, the wonder and amusement that can only be seen in a toddlers eyes and thru their smiles, the love and the trust they put in those who have daily contact with.
I ask that you keep all these images of these toddlers in your mind, And as we proceed the state of Florida will prove to you beyond reasonable doubt how the very person that this toddler Caylee Anthony depended on to give her these things that we all think of as just normal love and protection were instead not only not given to Caylee Anthony but were taken from her forever, by the one person who you would think would be showering her with these things not a stranger not a nanny but by none other than her own mother.

Caylee Anthony is not here to speak out in her own defense for justice but her small tiny voice will speak to you today and thru this trial by the multitudes of evidence gathered to tell her story of what not only ended her short life but the evidence will show you how unconcerned her mother was that she never once reported her daughter missing and in fact after 31 days it was Caylee's Grandmother who made a frantic 911 call when she learned Caylee was missing. While Caylee's own Mothers only response was just give me 1 more day.

We will show you how Casey Anthony Caylee's own mother never helped LE look for her daughter but instead took the very people trying to find Caylee on a wild goose chase all across Orlando to Apartment buildings no one had lived in for 3 months claiming to have left Caylee on the stairs to the apartment , and then on to a job at Disney that did not exist and further down a hall to an office of this job that she did not have before stopping at the door of this office that she did not have and then and only then telling LE you know what I don't have an office here. She took LE to an assisted living home pointing at a window claiming that the Nanny who had kept Caylee had resided at this residence. All the while claiming to be trying to help in the search for this tiny trusting toddler who had already been missing for 31 days.

The defense is going to tell you that Casey handed Caylee over to a Nanny and the Nanny just vanished with Caylee before her Mother returned to pick her up, But we will show you that nobody has ever seen the nanny has ever spoke on the phone to the nanny and with all the searches done by local Le and FBi this Nanny has never been found, she does not exist this nanny is just 1 more of all the lies that Casey Anthony has told thru this whole thing.

I ask that you listen to the evidence the state has gathered and listen closely to the statements that will be made by all the people who did put all they had into trying to find this tiny beautiful toddler. Law enforcement, Texas equasearch, FBI, and countless individuals who felt compelled to do all they could to locate this toddler Caylee Anthony.
And then listen to the medical examiner as they tell you how this tiny trusting toddler was found thrown into the side of the road 1/2 mile from her own home bagged in black trash bags not once but twice and then placed in a laundry hamper with 3 layers of duct tape across her tiny mouth and nose making it impossible to scream or cry or breathe and discarded at a dump site like trash.

I ask that you listen to the facts shown to you with your heart , your ears, and your mind. That you listen as Caylee speaks to us thru the facts and as you hear her tiny little voice in the facts given to you that you think of the horror this little one must have gone thru when the very person she should have looked to as a protector , giving unconditional love ,and a role model, calculatedly cold heartedly murdered this beautiful little girl Caylee Anthony. And then went on to a life of partying, drinking dancing, living with her newest boyfriend as if Caylee never existed.

The defense will try and tell you all sorts of things to defend Casey Anthony but I assure you if you listen with your heart, your ears and your mind you will agree that there is no defense for a missing toddler never being reported missing, And there is no defense for any of the other things Casey Anthony did the partying, computer searches for the very chemical that will arise over and over again chloraphorm , And I am sure you wil agree before this trial ends that there is no Nanny and yet there are numerous items from Casey Anthony's own home that put her not only at the crime but make her the only person responsible for the murder of this tiny toddler Caylee Anthony.

listen and let these facts be the voice of Caylee as she tells her story. And try to put yourself in the helpless hopeless position of this tiny toddler Caylee Anthony. I ask that you give this little one the only thing that can be given to her now and that is justice for her small tiny life being snuffed out.

zippitydoda said:

I'd just read CA's myspace entry..."My Calyee is Missing" and then announce The Prosecution rests!

Cindy's words, back when she was truly concerned about the truth, explain everything.

Thursday, July 03, 2008
my caylee is missing

Current mood: distraught

She came into my life unexspectedly, just as she has left me. This precious little angel from above gave me strength and unconditional love. Now she is gone and I don’t know why. All I am guilty of is loving her and providing her a safe home. Jealousy has taken her away. Jealousy from the one person that should be thankfull for all of the love and support given to her. A mother’s love is deep, however there are limits when one is betrayed by the one she loved and trusted the most. A daughter comes to her mother for support when she is pregnant, the mother says without hesitation it will be ok. And it was. But then the lies and betrayal began. First it seemed harmless, ah, love is blind. A mother will look for the good in her child and give them a chance to change. This mother gave chance after chance for her daughter to change, but instead more lies more betrayal. What does the mother get for giving her daughter all of these chances? A broken heart. The daughter who stole money, lots of money, leaves without warning and does not let her mother now speak to the baby that her mother raised, fed, clothed, sheltered, paid her medical bills, etc. Instead tells her friends that her mother is controlling her life and she needs her space. No money, no future. Where did she go? Who is now watching out for the little angel?


That would be the SA, and those of us who pray for justice.

Click to expand...

Slightly ot to this particular thread, but the "no money, no future" part sounds like Cindy knew that Casey didn't work.

As part of their opening statement the prosecution should do a day by day countdown of the 31 days and tell the jury what "fun" things KC did on each of those days. They should also tell the jury where Caylee's body was on each of those 31 days with in-depth descriptions of the stages of decomposition, the insect activity, the odors, and the area where she was dumped. CA, GA, and LA's inaction on those 31 days should also be mentioned, to further show that Caylee had no real caring family, but only those who chose to turn their backs on her and the severity of her predicament.

Lexington said:

As part of their opening statement the prosecution should do a day by day countdown of the 31 days and tell the jury what "fun" things KC did on each of those days. They should also tell the jury where Caylee's body was on each of those 31 days with in-depth descriptions of the stages of decomposition, the insect activity, the odors, and the area where she was dumped. CA, GA, and LA's inaction on those 31 days should also be mentioned, to further show that Caylee had no real caring family, but only those who chose to turn their backs on her and the severity of her predicament.

Click to expand...

I like this idea, but I believe I would save it for closing arguments. Think of how much more powerful it would be after the jury had already viewed the pictures of both KC partying and Caylee's remains at the dumpsite.

This would tie together much of the evidence the jury was shown, and really make an impression about the inconsistency of how a worried mother should act, compared to KC's "la bella vita".

Rlaub44 said:

I like this idea, but I believe I would save it for closing arguments. Think of how much more powerful it would be after the jury had already viewed the pictures of both KC partying and Caylee's remains at the dumpsite.

This would tie together much of the evidence the jury was shown, and really make an impression about the inconsistency of how a worried mother should act, compared to KC's "la bella vita".

Click to expand...

That would work also. I think that it is important that they highlight the contrast between KC and Caylee's situation in those vital 31 days.

What a thread and what contributions! I am almost intimidated but I will write an opening statement in role-playing character this afternoon. Until then, I have to jump in with this. Most folks know I did some time. Not proud of it, just little point in hiding it. Anyhow, I really think the DA could play the 4AM statement to Yuri, the next day @Universal, and her first "OMG, calling you guys..." call from the stripey hole and simply rest their case. IMHO, no juror is ever going to get past the 31 days and even then, it was Cindy calling about a car...