Advisement of rights. Federal Court

All defendants appearing for the first time in this court are advised that you have the right to remain silent. You’re not obligated to make any statement here in court, but if you do make a statement, the contents of that statement may be used against you in the future legal proceedings.

You have the right to an attorney and the right to have that attorney present with you during all court proceedings. You also have the right to have that attorney present with you any time you’re questioned by an agent of the United States government. If you do not have the money to hire your own attorney, this court will appoint an attorney for you after you have demonstrated that you don’t have the money to hire your own attorney. In order to demonstrate that you do not have the money to hire your own attorney I will require that you fill out a financial affidavit.

This financial affidavit is made under penalty of perjury: if you make any false or dishonest statement in the financial affidavit you could subject yourself to further prosecution. You’re here for an initial appearance before the US Magistrate. The purpose of this appearance is for you to be told what the charges are against you and to have the court set conditions for you pretrial release.

You have the right to a preliminary hearing to determine if there is probable cause to believe that you committed the crime which is alleged against you in the complaint. That hearing must be within 10 days after today’s date, if you are in custody, or within 20 days after today’s date if you’re not in custody. If at any time before the end of this 10 or 20 day period of time you’re indicted by a Federal Grand Jury than you no longer will have the right to a preliminary hearing.

You also have the right to be released on reasonable bail. If you cannot make the bail the court sets for you here today in this hearing you have the right to come back to this court at some later time to have the court again considered whether the bail that was set in your case is the proper bail for your case after considering the facts and circumstances of your case and your particular situation.

If your case was originally filed in a district court other than these district court than you may choose to enter the plea of guilty or nolo contendere in this district court rather than returning to face the charges in the district court in which you were originally charged. You may do this however only with the consent of the US attorney in this district and the US attorney in the district in which you were originally charged. If you wish to transfer your case to this district for a plea of guilty or nolo contendere you should consult with your attorney regarding this possibility.

Opening statement. Prosecution

Ladies and gentlemen of the Jury, first of all I would like to thank you for your patience during Jury selection this morning. I would like to preface my remarks by reminding you that nothing I say here today is to be considered by you as evidence. We attorneys were not there on the day of the incident, we’re not witnesses, we just present the case and make our arguments to persuade you that you should decide the case in our favor.

This is my opportunity, ladies and gentlemen of the Jury, as the persecutor in this case to give you a short preview of the case we’re about to present. What we expect to prove? Witnesses may be testifying out of order, and things could get rather confusing what with legal motions and objections and so on. So I’m going to give you an outline of the case, a roadmap so to speak so that you will know more of less what is happening.

As you know, the defendant of this case Mrs. Lee is charged with the shoplifting. Our first witness will be Mr. Siemens, the security officer at Wollworth, who will testify that he was on duty on June 8 of this year at approximately 3 p.m. and that was his job to observe patrons in the store through the two-way mirror from his post in the stores of the security office on the second floor.

Mr. Siemens will testify that he observed the defendant acting suspiciously in the toy section of the store. That is she has stayed in area for an unusually long period of time kept looking from side to side and than quickly grabbed an item of the shelf and secreted that within her clothing. You will hear Mr. Siemens testify that it was a hot day that day and that his attention was initially drawn to Mrs. Lee, the defendant, because she was wearing a heavy overcoat. Mr. Siemens will tell you in this testimony that after observing the defendant hide the item in her clothing he went downstairs to the main floor of the store and followed Mrs. Lee until she exit the store, at which time he detained her and then he took her up to his office for an interrogation, and when he was satisfied that she had indeed taken the items and did not attend to pay for them he called the police. The police officer who made the arrest will also testify that Mrs. Lee was duly informed of her Miranda rights and that she declined to make a statement.

In short, ladies and gentlemen, we intend to prove to you that Mrs. Lee engaged in a deliberate premeditated act of theft, that she entered the Wollworths store with a specific intent of stealing the item in question and haven’t the slightest intention of paying for it. So basically, ladies and gentlemen of the Jury, that is the just of your case. We expect to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of shoplifting, and we hope that after listening to all of the evidence you will return the verdict of guilty. Thank you.