We've spent the weekend waiting and now we're almost there. It will have been five days since Judge Vincent Gaughan has seated his jury, and prosecutor Shauna Boliker and defense attorney Eddie Genson are now set to square off.
Opening statments in this kiddie porn trial will begin at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Courtroom 500.
"That will be among the most important parts of this trial," said jury consultant Steven Merican. "It's when the jury will hear for the first time what the expected evidence will be, and they will hold the lawyers to their word on what the evidence is going to show."
That said, here are three things to expect from the two attorneys, well-seasoned in the art of persuasion.
1) Short and sweet
Though the average adult's attention span may stretch to 20 minutes max, mix in a straightbacked chair and a dark, gloomy courtroom and the mind is sure to wander.
"That's why you see a lot of lawyers going to shorter statements, trying to spice up what they show jurors with all types of demonstrative aids," Merican said.
Given the nature of this case, I don't know how demonstrative those aids need to be...but they certainly could attract our attention.
2) No overpromising
Jurors will hold attorneys to the case they lay out in openings, so if either side fails to meet expectations, that failure could equal disaster.
"If the lawyer says we expect the evidence will be A, B and C, and after three or four weeks of trial they don't come back with A, B and C, that's going to be a real negative when the jury goes back and deliberates," Merican said.
Defense attorney Joe Lopez, who represented mob hitman Frank Calabrese, Sr. in the "Family Secrets" trial, sets the bar even lower.
"I don't think Mr. Kelly's attorneys are going to promise the jury anything," he said.
3) Straight talk
Don't look for any lawyer-ese here, because you won't find it. As opening statements are often seen as a "roadmap" for the remainder of the trial, that roadmap must be relayed in the language of the jurors.
"It's the old Abe Lincoln saying," Merican said. "Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em, tell 'em, and then 'tell em what you told em."
(Kinda reminds me of TV reporter talk!)
