Preparing for Trial
Marie arrives at the office and sits down at her desk. She has a meeting about her upcoming court case at 10am that will likely last most of the day. Almost immediately, she gets a text from Jenny.
Jenny texting... Hey you, John has your number. He should be getting in contact with you sometime today, I think.
Marie texting... Thanks Jenny. I wonder. Marie adds a deadpan emoji.
It's 10am, and the defense team gathers in the conference room. Marie connects her laptop to the overhead projector so everyone can see her presentation.
Marie: Ok, let's get started. As you know, this meeting is about the Joey Lasso case. Mr. Lasso was out with a group of friends at the Philadium bar on June 20th. Another group arrived at around 11pm that included Brian Carter, the plaintiff. Brian Carter is a professional baseball player on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Physically, Mr. Carter is a pretty big guy - around 6'4", 220 pounds. Mr. Lasso is around 5'10", 190 pounds.
A couple of junior law clerks join the meeting a little late. Marie looks up with a frown but continues her explanation of the case.
Marie: At around midnight, there is apparently an argument about the music. Greg Moran, a person in Mr. Lasso's group, tells the bartender to change the music. The bartender refuses, stating that he has no control over the music. Mr. Carter overhears the conversation, and says to Mr. Moran in no uncertain terms that the music will not be changed, using a lot of colorful language as you can imagine. Mr. Carter pushes Mr. Moran as he is making his point. Mr. Lasso sees that, and walks up to Mr. Carter and punches him in the face. Mr. Carter did not see it coming, and goes down hard, and the rest of Mr. Carter's group jumps on Mr. Lasso and he goes down. Bouncers at the bar broke the fight up fairly quickly, and the police were called and they took statements. Mr. Lasso was arrested for assault, and was taken to the 3rd district police headquarters. He spent the night there, and was bailed out by his parents the next day. Mr. Carter was taken to a local hospital with a possible concussion. The whole thing was video recorded by Mark White, who was just another customer at the bar. He almost immediately uploaded it to Instagram. Questions?
Linda: So, Lasso sucker punched Carter. I saw the video. It's pretty clear what happened.
Marie: Well, yes and no. The video does not show Mr. Carter push Mr. Moran. This is a key point for our defense.
Bob: So the defense will be "self defense"? I can see making that case, considering the push as well as the size advantage that Carter has over Moran. You're going to say that Lasso punched Carter to protect Moran?
Marie: Exactly. It's clear cut to me. If Carter had not pushed Moran, I think our case would be much more difficult. Fortunately we have witnesses, so I am confident that we can exonerate Mr. Lasso. I wonder if a deal can be worked out before the trial.
Ellis: At the initial hearing he plead not guilty, right?
Marie: That's right Ellis.
Ellis: Ok, what are the key dates? When will the actual trial happen?
Marie: The key dates are on this slide.
Marie displays a slide that shows the following:
Date and Schedule Timeline
- July 20 - initial hearing
- September 14 - follow up hearing
- November 4 - pre-trial hearing
- November 22 - trial begins
Marie: After my opening statement, the prosecution will call witnesses. Let me share that list with you...
Marie shows a few more slides about the case, including the witness list and some thoughts on the prosecution's case. The meeting goes on until a little after 3pm. After the meeting, Marie goes back to her desk and checks emails and phone messages. At a little after 5pm, she get's a text.
John texting... Hi this is John Chestnut from the other night.
Marie texting... Hi John. How are you?
John texting... Good. Hey, would you like to go for drinks after work sometime?
Marie pauses for effect...
Marie texting... Sure. How about Friday? Where?
John texting... I know a place...
Marie smiles as she blocks her calendar for Friday evening.
Flash Card Drill
- His deadpan expression was hilarious considering the circumstances. 彼の無表情な様子は状況を考えると滑稽でした。
- She indicated in no uncertain terms her disgust for the president. 彼女は大統領に対する嫌悪感をはっきりと示した。
- He used some colorful language when referring to the president. 彼は大統領に言及するときにいくつかの罵倒した言葉を使用しました。
- Freddie worked as a bouncer in a strip club prior to getting hired as a bodyguard for the president's lawyer. フレディは、大統領の弁護士のボディーガードとして雇われる前に、ストリップクラブで用心棒として働いていました。
- The president was arrested for tax evasion. 大統領は脱税で逮捕された。
- The president's son was arrested for assault of his girlfriend, which caused considerable embarrassment. 大統領の息子はガールフレンドに対する暴行で逮捕され、かなりの窮迫な事態を引き起こした。
- The best player on the football team suffered a concussion in the first half, and had to sit out the rest of the game. フットボールチームのベストプレイヤーは前半に脳震盪を起こし、ゲームの残りはずっと座って観ていなくてはなりませんでした。
- As the fight was unfolding, I was streaming it to Instagram. 喧嘩が繰り広げられていたので、私はそれをインスタグラムに載せていました。
- She was the first witness called in the case. Her testimony was not very convincing though. 彼女はその事件で呼ばれた最初の目撃者でした。しかし、彼女の証言はあまり説得力がありませんでした。
- He sucker punched Harold, and after that all hell broke loose in the bar. 彼はハロルドに不意打ちパンチを食わせました、そしてその後、バーでは全くの地獄の様相となりました。
- He plead self defense, though between you and me I think he really wanted to kill that guy. 彼は自己防衛を訴えますが、ここだけの話、彼は本当にその男を殺したかったのだと思います。
- Professional athletes are able to get offers to endorse products, which is very lucrative. プロのアスリート達は、色々な製品を推奨するという仕事のオファーを得ることができます。それはとても儲かる仕事です。
- The president pleaded not guilty at his IRS tax evasion plea hearing. 大統領は彼のIRS脱税の嘆願聴聞会で無罪を申し立てた。
- The president was proven guilty of multiple white-collar crimes in a court of law. 大統領は、法廷で複数のホワイトカラー（頭脳労働者）犯罪で有罪とされた。
- The trial was suspended because the plaintiff caught the coronavirus. 原告がコロナウイルスにかかった為、裁判は中断された。
- Fortunately we have witnesses, so I am confident that we can exonerate Mr. Lasso. 幸いなことに目撃者達がいるので、ラッソさんを免罪できると確信しています。
