What does an opening statement usually consist of? Is evidence shown?

Question

In court, what does the opening statement of a prosecutor/defense usually consist of? Is evidence shown in this part - to help strengthen their argument?

Answer 1

Exactly what ♥hails♥ said. ;)

Answer 2

No evidence in the opening, its usually just an overview of the case, saying things like- we will show this or that, or cause, then during the actual court hearing is when the evidence will be presented.

Answer 3

Opening statement by the prosecutor usually does not include the presenting of evidence. The intent is expressed to convict of charges which are then specified and to indicate evidence will be presented to prove the validity of the charges to the satisfaction of law/statute and/or jury. In simple terms, you say what you are going to do, you do it (present the evidence) and then you tell them what you did in concluding remarks/summary. The defense also identifies the intent, may approach the bench with various requests to fend off charges or address procedure such as venue.

Answer 4

Evidence is not shown, but can be alluded to. IOW, an attorney can say, "We will present you with receipts from a hotel that show my client was seven hours away at the time of the event." The actual receipt, though, will not be entered into evidence until a witness testifies about the receipt.

The opening argument mainly lays out what you intend to prove/disprove. It lays out the law you want the jury to consider. It lays out the logical steps the lawyer will take to prove the charge. For instance, in a capitol murder case, you normally need a circumstance that warrants the death penalty. So, the DA will say something like this, "We will show that X killed Y. We will show that X planned Y's death and carried out that plan in a depraved manner."

The opening argument will also feature a number of counter-arguments. Because of pleadings and discoveries, each side kind of knows what the other side will argue. So, the DA might say, "The defense will produce receipts showing that X checked into a hotel that is seven hours away. However, we will introduce receipts into evidence showing that he filled up his car two miles from the murder site 15 minutes prior to the murder."

So, in opening statements, the lawyers lay out to the jury their basic arguments, what evidence they plan to present and some counter arguments to the other side's case.