Being a trial lawyer can be really stressful! I recently had a jury trial on a case that carried a mandatory minimum sentence (18 months) upon conviction. Anything other than a “not guilty” would have been a career ender for my client, at minimum.

District court level cases can be tried within one day. Such one day trials are preferable for all parties, including the jurors. Thus, to keep to a tight timeline, I agreed or “stipulated” to certain elements of the offense. While it is more conventional for defense attorneys to hammer away at each element of criminal charges, stipulations can help strategically.

If you have a tight theory of the case and want to keep that centered throughout the trial, stipulations can help cut back on the amount of dry testimony from “after the fact” investigators. Live testimony is then focused on the key players, whose testimony is crucial to advancing your theory of the case.

Admittedly, it is a gamble. But so is placing one’s fate in the hands of eight strangers. Criminal trial law requires risks, or else there will be no rewards. In this case, well, I guess you can figure out how the jury ruled. Let’s just say it worked, and my client’s future is looking amazing.