The opening statement refers to an attorney’s opportunity of addressing the jury in a court trial. In most cases, the party who has the highest burden of proof including plaintiffs in civil cases and the prosecution in criminal trails are offered the opportunity of addressing the jury in the opening statements. The fact that the plaintiff and prosecutors have the opportunity of influencing the decision of the court and reprimand the accused although there may some mitigating factors that could lead to the jury making a decision in favor of the accused. On this note, there are advantages associated with the defense first providing the opening statement before the prosecutors or the plaintiff. On the other hand, there are disadvantages associated with the defense offering the opening statement to the jury because of the associated incrimination against the victim or plaintiff.
One of the advantages is the fact that the suspect may not be culpable and hence the defense has the right to ensure that the factual details of the circumstances that led to the accusation are clarified. Attorney have the ideal communication with the suspect and an determine the situation that led to the accusation (Brasof & Peterson, 2018). On this note, the advantage is ensuring that the suspect is not held liable for an offense that they did not perpetrate.
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The other advantage is ensuring the defense is in a position of ensuring that some mitigating factors are considered. For example, some perpetrators are not in their right mental conditions while committing the crime and this could lead to reduced sentences. Moreover, the disclosure by the defense may have significant impact on the sentence because they have sufficient information of the circumstances that led to the perpetration of the crime and how the suspect responded to the situation (Finneran, 2017). On this note, the defense having the ideal means of convincing the jury about the situation of the crime can lead to enhanced delivery of justice.
On the other hand, when the defense is offered the opportunity of providing the opening statements, a criminal who is guilty of a crime can receive a lenient sentence and ascertain that they are released within a short term. Some juries are known for their emotional characteristics that lead to passing of low characteristics that may end up releasing the convicts after a short term of imprisonment. One of the issues that leads to the recidivism is he fact that some juries sentence people to shorter terms and released bac to the society when they are not ready to integrate with society (Brasof & Peterson, 2018). Therefore, when the defense is offered the opportunity of providing the opening statement, they may influence the jury to make the decision of releasing dangerous criminals back to society.
The other disadvantage of offering the defense the opportunity of making the opening statement is associated with misleading the jury about the mental capacity of the suspect. In many jurisdictions, people are offered the opportunity of redeeming themselves if they are found to be mentally ineligible and may reform and contribute positively to the community if they are offered the ideal medication. However, when the individuals fake their mental status, after their release from correctional facilities, they may continue to harm other people, which does not lead to the purpose of the correctional roles in society.
References
Brasof, M., & Peterson, K. (2018). Creating procedural justice and legitimate authority within school discipline systems through youth court. Psychology in the Schools , 55 (7), 832-849.
Finneran, R. E. (2017). Wherefore moot court. Wash. UJL & Pol'y , 53 , 121.
