by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
It provided an opportunity for military attorneys to hone their craft, and a chance for civilian attorneys to give back to the men and women who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Roger Dodd, Robert Spohrer and Chad Roberts of Spohrer and Dodd law firm taught a trial advocacy seminar at Mayport Naval Station for Judge Advocate General Officers last Tuesday. Dodd covered direct and cross examination, Roberts detailed the importance of opening statements and Spohrer finished with technique for closing statements.
“We have emotion for the way you serve our country and we want to give back for all that you do for us,” said Dodd.
“We like giving back and we are grateful for what they do,” said Roberts, who was stationed at the Mayport Naval Station while he served in the Navy. “They are often uncelebrated in the day-to-day toil. We like doing what we can to make their job easier.”
The trial advocacy seminar was attended by nearly 30 Judge Advocate General (JAG) officers from the U.S. Army, Marines and Navy, and this group had members that were stationed all over the world, but made it a point to attend the seminar.
“They reached out to us and offered to hold the seminar here in Mayport,” said Lt. Cmdr. David Gonzalez, director of Military Justice from Southeast Regions. “These gentlemen are so well known we had people coming in from all over the world to attend. We have defense attorneys and prosecutors. Some have a lot of experience and others have a little experience. It’s a great learning experience.”
Dodd, a senior partner, is an internationally-known lecturer and co-author of “Cross-Examination: Science and Techniques.”
One of the tips he gave the group was to pick up the pace in the courtroom and don’t be boring. He drew from a personal experience to prove his point.
He was trying a case in Montana when his opposing counsel spotted a napping juror. Dodd thought the case was headed for a mistrial because the juror had fallen asleep, but the judge had another idea when opposing counsel asked for mistrial.
“The judge told him, ‘Counselor, you put him to sleep, you can wake him up,’” said Dodd.
Another simple technique to use when asking witnesses questions is to use a person’s complete name with all the titles they have accumulated after their names.
“People tend to pay more attention when you do this,” said Dodd. “Just like when you were a kid and your mother used your full name. When you do that, people know they are in trouble. And there is no objection for it. What? Is somebody going to say,’Judge the prosecutor is being polite?’”
Roberts followed with information on why an opening statement is so important.
“The only way you can really communicate with another person is through story,” said Roberts. “You have to find the story appropriate for each case. An opening statement is not persuasion. I wish I could’ve learned this earlier, but it is also not a road map of the evidence.”
When asked how much time is necessary for a proper opening statement, Roberts said the amount of time varies.
“It should take as long as you need to tell the story,” said Roberts. “I’ve taken up to 30 minutes on an opening statement.”
Spohrer, senior partner, gave the troops a history lesson when it came time for him to talk about closing arguments. He used John Adams’ defense of British soldiers during the Boston Massacre Trial of 1770 as an example of the power of language.
“Adams used language to make his jury rise above the passion of the case,” said Spohrer.
He urged the group to practice the “power of language” and study history to become better attorneys.
It is often difficult for soldiers to improve their litigation skills since they don’t spend a lot of time in the courtroom because they rotate through different positions in the military judicial system.
“We can progress from prosecutor to teacher to judge, getting a new assignment every two years,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ian Wexler, of Mayport’s Naval Region Legal Service Office Detachment. “It’s hard to develop that litigation experience that way. We are trying to develop a military justice track to develop career litigators.”
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