In actual practice in a municipal court hearing in Ohio, you would expect to find limited information in the flies of the prosecutors and defense lawyers prior to the hearing. Also, the prosecution and defense would not have access to the same materials. Lawyers going into such a hewing often have some idea who the witnesses are and what the other side's witnesses will say, but there has not been a complete investigation. In addition, hearsay evidence may be admissible
For obvious reasons, the Ohio Mock Trial Program cannot conform strictly to real life in presenting materials for use in preparing for this hearing. Accordingly, we have ”suspended reality" and are providing you with complete witness statements as though the witnesses have been subject to pre-hearing questioning. Please keep in mind that the existence of formal witness statements is unrealistic but necessary for the Mock Trial Competition.
Summaries of interviews of each witness in this case follow. You may assume that the interviews were held in late 1998. It is stipulated that the following summaries are accurate reports of the witnesses' statements and that the summaries may be used by counsel for either side for any purpose for which an actual, signed statement could be used.
In addition to the witness statements that follow, you will see several exhibits. The parties have stipulated that these exhibits are accurate and authentic. These are the only exhibits that may be taken from the case materials and marked as exhibits at trial. Whether and how any exhibit is used during the trial is a matter of choice and strategy for the lawyers. See the Modified Rules of Evidence and Procedure regarding the use of physical evidence.