Seating arrangement in courtroom

Seating arrangement in courtroom

On the first day of trial, defense counsel should arrive early to survey the physical lay-out of the courtroom, and make tactical decisions as appropriate. If there are multiple defendants and part of the client's defense is to distinguish himself or herself from the other defendants, counsel may want to try to stake out seats physically set apart from the other defendants. The physical seating arrangement graphically symbolizes the distinction between the client and other defendants, enabling the jurors, through constant reminders, to keep that in mind.FN79 If the case is highly publicized, counsel may want to see where the press will be located, to ascertain whether the presence of the press will interfere with the trial in any way that might prejudice his or her client or cause prejudicial error. Counsel must also consider the relationship of his or her client to the jury. This requires determining if the client should be as near as possible or as far as possible from the jury. Throughout the course of the trial, counsel should stress the client's individuality; especially as counsel emphasizes how each particular piece of evidence does or does not apply to the defendant.