Opening Statements

Once the jury has been selected for your driving under the influence trial, both the district attorney and your Pennsylvania DUI attorney will make an opening statement to the jury. Opening statements are a critically important phase in your Pennsylvania DUI trial, because they give your attorney a chance to introduce you to the jurors and begin building a vital connection. An experienced Pennsylvania DUI attorney from Zachary B. Cooper, Attorney at Law, P.C. thoroughly understands just how important a strong opening statement is in your driving under the influence case.

The district attorney has the burden of proving your guilt in your Pennsylvania DUI case beyond a reasonable doubt, so he or she is allowed to deliver the first opening statement. Your Pennsylvania DUI attorney can then give an opening statement or may wait until after the district attorney has concluded the case against you.

Your Pennsylvania DUI attorney may opt to deliver an opening statement directly after the district attorney's that urges jurors to keep an open mind during the prosecution's case. However, your Pennsylvania DUI attorney should never make statements that cannot be supported later.

Because of this, your Pennsylvania DUI attorney may make a noncommittal opening statement that merely asks jurors to listen to the evidence with an open mind and withhold judgment until deliberations. Your Pennsylvania DUI lawyer will also remind the jurors that the district attorney has the burden of proving every element of your driving under the influence case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Your Pennsylvania DUI attorney will also point out to jurors that the defense has no obligation to prove anything. If the district attorney doesn't prove every element of the driving under the influence charge beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury cannot convict you even if your Pennsylvania DUI lawyer doesn't produce a single witness or shred of evidence on your behalf.

Your experienced Pennsylvania DUI lawyer from Zachary B. Cooper, Attorney at Law, P.C. understands that a carefully crafted opening statement is designed to help forge a connection with jurors and encourage them to keep an open mind. To learn more about innovative and appropriately aggressive defenses to driving under the influence charges, please contact a skilled Pennsylvania DUI attorney from Zachary B. Cooper, Attorney at Law, P.C. today for a free consultation.