Discuss the skills that an attorney would need to apply in presenting evidence to a jury in order to ensure that the jury gave as much weight as possible to that evidence.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The best answer will include discussions of skills such as preparation of witness, selecting witnesses and rejecting those who will not present a credible image to the jury, and persuading the jury in opening statements and closing arguments that the evidence being presented can be trusted.
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The weight of evidence consists of probative value, credibility, and corroboration. The probative value is how well evidence proves a fact that can be affected by other evidence. Credibility is how believable evidence is. Corroboration is how well evidence is supported by other evidence; this is required to support an out-of-court confession. The weight formula is (probative value+credibility)x corroboration.
Each aspect affects the weight of evidence, so the attorney has to make sure they present the evidence to a jury well enough so that each factor adds as much weight to the evidence as possible.
The skill needed for probative value would be being able to take one piece of evidence and explaining why it is important to the case. If the evidence was DNA, the attorney would have to explain why this DNA proves that the defendant did or did not commit the crime in question.
The skills needed for credibility would be researching the methods used when collecting and testing the evidence. Another skill would be looking into the chain of custody. This can show where the evidence originated. If the evidence came from the scene, it may be more believable that it affects the case than if it came from a second-hand location. If evidence is collected but the chain of custody isn't accurate, it should not be used.
The skills needed for corroboration are to put together multiple pieces of evidence and to explain why, together, they are accurate to the case. If a piece of the victim's clothes were found and the defendant's DNA was present on the item, the attorney would use those two pieces of DNA to explain how it pertains to the case.
If the attorney is presenting evidence to a jury that is in favor of position, he must convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt which is why giving as much weight as possible to that evidence as possible.