THE AVERAGE JUDICIAL

PROCEDURE OF A TRIAL
CADEN MUNSON

INDEPENDENT STUDY MENTORSHIP – SPRING 2019

MRS. CLICK
 DISCLAIMER

Not all the information in this

presentation comes directly from
mentorship experience, some of
the information comes from
outside research.
 MENTOR INTRODUCTION

• Mentor – Mekisha Jane Walker

• Mentorship location – Mentors home office and
the court room
• Mentors career – Criminal defense attorney
• Education – University of Houston - Bachelor of
Science,
• Legal Studies - American Jurisprudence,
December 1998

https://www.google.com/search?q=harris+county+court&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUK
EwjVs9H2ytngAhWM6oMKHQYDDikQ_AUIDigB&biw=1366&bih=625&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=sJ1zRUKyylFKOM
 WHAT IS ISM

• ISM stands for Independent Study Mentorship. Each student has to select a
mentor to shadow for at least one semester. The students are required to
spend at least 3 hours a week with their mentors and keep an activity log. At
the end of each semester the student is required to give a presentation
about what they learned to three professionals in positions related to their
mentorship. The goal of ISM is to help high school students get a better idea
of what their future career could be or help them decide what they want to
do as a career.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&biw
=1366&bih=625&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=akt1XOisHZP7jwSGvpeYCg&q=
ISM&oq=ISM&gs_l=img.3..35i39j0l4j0i67j0l2j0i67l2.3864.9202..9442...
4.0..0.119.555.6j1......1....1..gws-wiz-
img.......0i5i30j0i8i30j0i24.iBXponNjnac&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc
=iw1DuS89jtloUM
PROJECT
TOPIC
For my project topic I decided to study what goes
on in a normal trial. Since the vast majority of
people will never step into a court room for a trial
I hope that my project can help explain the in’s
and outs of an average trial.
 KEY POINT ONE – HOW DO YOU END UP IN
COURT
• Key Point One – How do you end up in court
• Commit a crime
• Get caught by the police
• Don’t plea or get a dismissal
• Fight the charge in a court of your peers
 KEY POINT TWO – HOW DO YOU GET REPRESENTATION

• Advertisement by mail, billboard, or pamphlet/flyer

• Word of mouth
• Internet research
• Court appointed public defender

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&biw=1366&bih=576&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei
=oEx1XL6oB8LajwTKnrKwCg&q=attorney+with+client&oq=attorney+with+client&gs_l=img.3..0.47669.52
064..52236...0.0..0.142.2028.5j15......1....1..gws-wiz-
img.......35i39j0i67j0i10i67j0i5i30j0i8i30j0i24.YhMjQPLl090&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=e9CXefphimedr
M:
 KEY POINT THREE – WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU
GET REPRESENTATION
• Discuss next steps in case
• Take the charge to court
• Select a jury
• Prepare for the fight

https://www.google.com/search?q=jail+bars&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&source=lnms&tbm
=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjS_LWDztngAhXC6YMKHZqvBL8Q_AUIDigB&biw=1366&bih=576&saf
e=active&ssui=on#imgrc=fkvYjq4p87D6XM:
 KEY POINT FOUR – WHAT HAPPENS IN COURT
• Who is in the court room
• What do the people in the court do
• What are the procedures of the court
• What happens if something goes wrong

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&tbm=isch&q=jury&chi
ps=q:jury,g_1:cartoon:CfHnG7fMJfI%3D&usg=AI4_-
kTYdKAwTsmg0PLh8CYnWKbcu0xQCg&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwii5f3Ep9_gAhXomq0KHb
bsAUAQ4lYIKigB&biw=1366&bih=625&dpr=1&safe=active&ssui=on
 KEY POINT FIVE – THE BIG DECISION

• What happens if you win

• What happens if you lose
• Mistrials and other rare possibilities

https://www.google.com/search?q=jail+bars&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&oq=jail+bar
s&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.1721j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on
 PRODUCT SLIDE

• My final product is going to be a timeline of the most common events in a trial. I am

going to make this timeline by attending court with my mentor and by doing
research on the internet. As a last resort I will go to a random trial as they are open to
the public.
 RESEARCH

• For my research I plan on reading a book my mentor gave me, do internet

research and watch documentaries in order to figure out the worse case
scenario that can happen in trial gone wrong
 CURRENT
EVENT
• For my current event I chose to took into El
Chapo’s criminal trial. This court case
gives a good example of what kind of
personal information can be exposed and
how no aspect of a defendants life is
protected from the jury. It also details the
violence and paranoia of El Chapo during
https://www.google.com/search?q=el+chapo&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&sour
ce=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilq7buy9ngAhWSxIMKHSwYATEQ_AUIDy
gC&biw=1366&bih=625&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=HeWNRWLyxbI24M
the time when he was the leader of the
Sinaloa cartel.
 CONCLUSION

• Overall this semester of ISM has taught me a lot. My dad was a police officer for twenty-five years so
I learned how police officers do their jobs in arresting criminals and sending them to jail. Being
able to learn what a defense attorney does to try and prevent people from serving jail sentences is
opposite to the environment I have grown up in, and it really opened my eyes. I have developed a
greater sense of understanding in what goes on in a courtroom and disproved many of my
preconceived misunderstanding for the better.
• Thank you Mekisha for being a wonderful mentor and taking time teach me
about your career
• Thank you Mrs. Click for always helping with assignments and being
flexible.
 WORK CITED
• https://www.google.com/search?q=harris+county+court&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj
Vs9H2ytngAhWM6oMKHQYDDikQ_AUIDigB&biw=1366&bih=625&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=sJ1zRUKyylFKOM

• https://www.google.com/search?q=el+chapo&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilq7buy9ng
AhWSxIMKHSwYATEQ_AUIDygC&biw=1366&bih=625&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=HeWNRWLyxbI24M

• https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&biw=1366&bih=625&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=akt1XOisHZP7jwSGvpeYCg&q
=ISM&oq=ISM&gs_l=img.3..35i39j0l4j0i67j0l2j0i67l2.3864.9202..9442...4.0..0.119.555.6j1......1....1..gws-wiz-
img.......0i5i30j0i8i30j0i24.iBXponNjnac&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=iw1DuS89jtloUM

• https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&biw=1366&bih=576&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=oEx1XL6oB8LajwTKnrKwCg&q
=attorney+with+client&oq=attorney+with+client&gs_l=img.3..0.47669.52064..52236...0.0..0.142.2028.5j15......1....1..gws-wiz-
img.......35i39j0i67j0i10i67j0i5i30j0i8i30j0i24.YhMjQPLl090&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=e9CXefphimedrM:

• https://www.google.com/search?q=jail+bars&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS809US809&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjS_LWDztng
AhXC6YMKHZqvBL8Q_AUIDigB&biw=1366&bih=576&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=fkvYjq4p87D6XM: