CRIMINAL CASE ANALYSIS AND STEPS TAKEN.

STEP ONE:
1. Write down the facts with which your client has been charged
2. Make an outline of the elements of the ingredients of the offence that the prosecution
needs to prove (woolmington vs Dpp)
3. Analyze the facts of the offence your clients has been charged with
For example: the case of Embezzlement, one must be
 a public officer
 have been appointed to that office
 have participated in the said activity/exercise
Proof: letter of appointment, confirmation, posting instructions.
Mere working in the office without an appointment doesn’t qualify a conviction of someone for
conviction.
STEP TWO:
 Understand the facts of the case
 Something exactly happened
 Look for piece of evidence
 Distinguish a fact from a conclusion
 Address on fact at a time
Analyze a good fact & bad fact (separate facts that support your case from those that are strong
on opposite side” prosecution”)
Note: good facts on your side are bad facts of the opposite case.
STEP THREE:
 Analyze contents of the statements produced by the police
 Go through statement word per word and every document
 Interview the witness, experts eg. Dr ask him to take you through the medical reports
STEP FOUR:
 Rank your best facts based on element/ingredients of the offence to be proved
 Rank your worst facts based on elements of the offence to be proved
 Focus your examination on the best facts later on worst facts
 Develop an order for leading or cross examination of your witness based on the strong
facts as appear in the statements recorded.
STEP FIVE:
 Address the bad facts first as they arise.
 Do not ignore.
 Do not just explain
 Do not just justify
 Make the bad facts work for you (turn them to good facts)
STEP SIX
 Build a theory of the case (theory & theme) from the beginning to the end
  Bring a clear arguments to be presented to the Judicial officer
Eg. If the defence is of Alibi you need to go with it from the word go.
For example: Kiza Besigye’s case which was cooked in the state House and served in Courts but
the consistence of his defence, led to lack of merit of prosecution.
EXAMINATION IN CHIEF
Flame open questions using either (five wives and one husband.)
 Who…………………………………….
 What…………………………….
 When…………………………
 Where………………….
 Why………………….
 How…………..
Eg. Who handled the document, what happened after, when did this happen, what were you you
doing at that time, how did it leave your office, etc.
Or
 Describe……………,
 Explain to Court……………,
 Tell court…………………………….,
You may not use the five wives and one husband but posing open ended questions.
Eg. On 14th December, 2020 when this and that was happening where were you?
Note: Always have a logical Law of your case.-how the facts of the case fits into the legal
elements required for the verdict in your favor
Theme:-one minute distillation of the theory of the case captures your creativity.
CROSS-EXAMINATION:
 Organize to start and end on strong points (begin with a strong point and end with a
strong point)
 Tell your story through the witness , through the prosecution witness rather than only
discrediting them;
 Try as much as possible to use leading questions-leading questions suggest the answer
 Ask one new fact per question
 Do not ask conclusions-(eg. You’re corrupt isn’t it? Rather you can say, the money was
meant for the road, the road was commenced, people were compensated, the road was not
finished, the money got finished, you had budget…..)
 Focus where you want the judge to remember
 Do not argue with the witness
 Organize the facts lead to appoint or conclusion
 Ask enough question to develop the point
 Organize the entire cross-examination into chapters/parts.
TECHNIQUES TO CONTROL THE WITNESS ON CROSS EXAMINATION;
Pozner & Dodd:
 Short question; ask one fact per question Eg. “The car was blue? Wasn’t it?”
 Keep eye contact
  Repeat the question until it is answered
 Ask, repeat, reverse eg. Q. you signed on this document? A. bubble…, Q. You signed
any document? A. bubble, Q. you didn’t sign this document? A. No I
signed…..good!
 Shorten the question as you repeat it Eg. Q. The Car was blue, wasn’t it?, A. bubble,
Q. you said the car was blue….? A. bubble, Q. was it blue, red, white A. No, Q. was
it blue A. yes it was Blue’
 Ask with an appropriate voice, an inflection and body language helps to derive on point.
 In case the answer is not clear, use Elimination method:
Eg. Q. the car was Blue A. bubble, Q. the Car was Black A. No, Q. the Car was red A. No, Q. the
car was, Q. the car was Purple A. No, Q. the carwas Pink A. No, Q. the Car was Blue A. Yes, the
car was Blue.
 Conversional cross-examination;-Body steps (use the low tone to get what you want from
the witness, eg in sexual offences.
 Get the witness to commit to the undeniable facts
 Leave no room for contrary answer.
COURT ROOM COMMUNICATION
 Demeanor-appearance, dress code, flap poorly tied, no belt, buttons not well arranged.
 Eye contact-Maintain eye Contact with the judicial officer and the witness.
 Voice projection-speak audible enough.
 Pace- consider the judicial officer’s
 Silence- have a silence moment
 Facial expression
 Posture
 Avoidance of distracting gestures, verbal habits and over reliance on use of notes.
SUBMISSIONS:
 State your theme;
 Articulate your theory of the case;
 Argue the law effectively;
 Acknowledge the opposing authority(distinguish or argue for change in the law)
 Use an organized presentation;
 Argue the credibility of witness;
 Connect the facts in a helpful way to complete the story;
 Use analogy, comparisons, theoretical questions and repetitive technique such as trials to
persuade the judicial officer;
 Relate the facts to the law;
 Explain why you should win based on the evidence;

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STATE YOUR PRAYER.

Thank you!
Captured by Concerned Ugandan.