http://ojen.

ca/en/resources/videos/mock-trial-how-to

Opening Statement

Good morning your Honour. My name is Bruce, first initial M.

Your honour, our client cannot be convicted of these charges because the incident that
occurred resulted from the aggression and misconduct shown by the Plaintiff, Drew Morrie.
On the evening of October 22nd, 2016, our client Kelly Steems was working a regular
day, picking up a passenger around 6 PM on busy South Street. After proceeding on his route,
the biker showed up in his rear view mirror, too close to our clients taxi and began hitting the
vehicle.
Our client is a 47 year old Taxi driver with 15 years experience working in Mariposa. He
has received specific hands-on driver training including a session on biker awareness. It is
expected that he will say he appreciates his company’s approach to safety.
Today you will hear from two defense witnesses, Kelly Steems and Mackenzie Ford.
We anticipate that Mr. Steems will describe that on the night in question, around 6PM, he
was picking up a fare outside of Fast Tony’s, where he first encountered a biker who left his bike
in front of Mr. Steems vehicle. We anticipate that Mr. Steems will describe that the biker was
also not wearing a helmet.
Mr. Steems then continued on his route, taking his passenger to the Princess Charlotte
theatre using a shortcut on Hull street. We anticipate that Mr. Steems will say that he wasn’t
driving fast, about 30 km/hr and that there was another vehicle in front of him.
On Hull Street, Mr Steems began preparing for his next right hand turn onto West Street
by checking his rearview mirror. We anticipate that Mr Steems will say this is when he first saw
the biker coming up fast into his blindspot.
After he spotted the biker, Mr Steems heard a loud thud behind him to his right. Soon
after, another thud, much louder and closer was heard. We anticipate that Mr Steems will say
the second thud startle him and caused his car to swerve to the right.
Our second witness, Mackenzie Ford, will explain that on the night in question, she was
riding in a Super Rides van in front of Mr Steems vehicle on her way to a pub to watch a
baseball game with her friends and witnessed some of the events leading up to the alleged
collision. We anticipate that Ms Ford will describe the bikers aggressive behaviour. We will also
hear from Ms Ford about her role at Missinaba EnviroSociety, and the importance they place on
appropriate behaviour from bikers to encourage the city to allow for more bike friendly
infrastructure. We also anticipate Ms Ford will say that any events leading up to the collision
were not grounds for the biker to put himself in danger by distracting the driver.
The defense will now call it’s first witness, Mr Steems to the stand.

● Also Mackenzie change the last part to: we expect him to plead not guilty because that’s
what happens in the trial video
● I will add that in but at the end! That’s where it is in the video. Sorry, this isn’t quite
finished yet. Just a heads up for you guys, I’m very sick. I’ll do what I can to be at school
 tomorrow, and this will definitely be finished for you. But I doub’t I’ll be able to read it in
class. My voice is pretty much gone.
● No worries
● Get better Bruce first initial M.
● Mackenzie’s voice is gone? Or William? I hope you guys are both okay.
● W: My voice is a little hoarse but I can talk.
------
Andy: all of my notes are on paper i’ll hand them in like that tomorrow <- also going to
bed see you tomorrow

Andy: here are sample questions for cross examination. Troy let me know if you want a set as
well.

For Mackenzie Ford (Erica):

1. State your name for the court.
Hello, my name is Mackenzie Ford. I am 33 years old and currently working as a
Executive Director at Missanaba EnviroSociety (MES)
2. You are 34 years old and the director of the Missinaba EnviroSocity, correct?
I am an executive director at Missinaba EnviroSociety, but I am not 34 years old,
I am 33 years old.
3. What were you doing on the night of October 22nd, 2016?
On the night of October 22nd of 2016, around 6 pm I was heading to a local pub
to meet my friends and to watch the baseball game together. I was riding a Super
Rides Van and spotted the incident happening.
4. Did you have anything to drink before you got into the taxi?
Absolutely not, I did not have any drink before head.
5. How heavy was the traffic that night?
My Super Rides Van driver knew his routes very well, so he was taking me down
the Hull Street, which is the short cut. At the time, the downtown traffic was heavy
as usual.
6. In your statement you said you saw the cab swerve towards the curb, is that
correct?
Yes, correct. At the time, I wanted to capture a video of what was happening, but
I was so distracted so I was taking photos instead. While taking the picture, my
driver braked hard, so I lost control of my balance and dropped my phone. I did
not see what happened exactly after, except I did see the cab swerve toward the
curb.
 7. You also said in your statement that the cab must have hit the bike, but did you
see it happen?
As I stated before, when the whole incident happened, i lost my balance, so I
only saw the cab swerve toward the curb, but I did not see the cab directly hitting
the biker. I took pictures of the biker smacking the cab, she was putting herself in
danger, what good does it do to distract someone while they are driving?

They most likely will try to avoid mentioning the pictures you took as well as the
part about you being a bike enthusiast. Those are more along the lines of questions that
William will ask you during the trial. If you can expand on any of these and try to tell
more of the story it would be good practice for the direct examination and the cross
examination.

Direct Examination:

For Kelly Steems:

Mr. Steems, can you please state for this courtroom the events that occurred the evening of
October 22, 2016?

From there I am hoping that Troy will retell the story that is present in the affidavit. I read it over
and there doesn't seem to be much from his perspective that indicates he did much wrong.

MacKenzie Ford:
Miss Ford, you are called here today to testify what you witnessed on the evening of October
22, 2016. Can you please state what you were doing that evening on Hull Street at 6pm?

A: Yes, I was called here today to testify what I have witnessed during the evening of October
22nd of 2016. On that evening, I was heading a local pub to meet my friends and to watch the
baseball game together. As of working as a Executive Director for Missinaba Enviro Society, I
bike around almost all year around, but specifically that night, I didn’t bike since I had a plan of
drinking that night. So I decided to take a Super Rides Van to the pub, Super Rides Van is
almost like a taxi, but you just book it with an app. I was really glad, because my driver knew
what traffic would be like, and he knew his routes very well. So instead of waiting on the traffic,
he took a shortcut to the Hull Street, and that is where I witnessed the whole incident. My Super
Rides van was driving in front of Mr. Steems cab, and I was riding in the back seat of the van
and that is when I heard very aggressive and shouting noises, so I turned back and through the
rear window of the van, I saw one of the bike courier riding right next to the cab, it was one of
the super eats courier. From what I was seeing, it looked very aggressive, so I got annoyed and
took my phone out to document the whole craziness of the situation, and the next thing I know,
the biker was smacking the window of the cab. Everything happened so fast, I was so
distracted, I was trying to take a video, but I was taking photos instead. And all of sudden, my
driver braked hard, so I lost control of my balance and ended up dropping my phone. I did not
see what happened exactly after, but one thing I saw was the cab swerving towards the curb.
When I looked back, the biker was down on the sidewalk, I think the cab must have hit him, but I
am not sure, because I couldn’t see it. I yelled my driver to stop and quickly got out of the van, I
was very concerned about the biker and i was very annoyed about their behaviour.
Even if the cab did something stupid earlier, what good does it do to retaliate? The biker was
putting herself into a danger, she was distracting the driver, WHILE DRIVING. It is too bad, that I
didn’t get a video or photo of bike falling, but I did get some pictures of biker being violating and
I have sent my files to the Officer Gerald.

Here I am hoping Erica will say that it was the route that her Super Rides driver decided to take.

And while on Hull Street, can you please describe what you witnessed between the defendant
Mr. Steems and Mr. Morrie?

Here I am hoping she will state the facts that point out that she witnessed Morrie acting
aggressively towards Steems. Here I will call into court the evidence of the photos of Morrie
acting aggressively towards Steems on the street.