By Joelle Henry,
Chisholm Trail High School

As people say “there are two sides to every story.” In court, this statement applies in the same way. For cases in court, the prosecution presents facts to the jurors and judges to incline the result that the prosecutors want.

In the mock trial “the windshield murderer”, Arlo Key, a nurse aide, killed a homeless man named Jefferson Doyle while under the influence on October 6th, 2021. As the story goes, the defendant, Arlo Key, went out to a bar with family and friends, but before arriving to the bar Arlo went to their friend’s house and took a narcotic and was not in the right state of mind. After many drinks at the bar that night, Arlo was driven home by a friend but got back into his car highly intoxicated to take a drive. During that drive Arlo, in an inebriated state of mind, and as an occurrence of their reckless driving, they hit and killed a homeless man, Jefferson Doyle.  

In a state of panic, the defendant took the body, which is tampering with evidence, and hid the body in the garage until they dumped the body in a nearby park. The case went cold for a couple of months until an anonymous tip was given to the police saying that Arlo Key was the murderer. A prosecutor’s job is to find the defendant, which in this case, Arlo Key, guilty of murder and tampering with evidence. After seeing different versions of the case, it can be concluded that every prosecutor has a different way to approach witnesses and the defense.

Regardless of the outcome of the case, it’s interesting to hear what prosecutors do to prepare themselves, and what type of strategies they use. Charles VanScoy, from YMCA of Greater Williamson County, was one prosecutor interviewed about strategies for words and comments that they might have been using during the trial.

“We really tried to base everything factually. We wanted everything to be like based in the affidavit, so it is less objectionable,” VanScoy said, who also acknowledged areas for improvement. “We were pretty disorganized,” VanScoy said, “so we probably lost some points on decorum. I think my opening was pretty good. And his closing work was good, but I think we can improve the directs by adding more evidence.”

Arnav Koppala was another prosecutor, from NorthPark YMCA, who shared ideas and strategies that were used on trial. “On the prosecution side, we truly believe that the substance abuse did not affect her decision making, because it’s integral for the prosecution,” Koppala said,” that we meet the burden of proof and for failure to stop and render aid that goes under the felony for felony murder. Whereas, on the defense, we’re trying to show there’s doubt in the prosecution’s case.” 

“Prosecution is proving their point of to the court, and they use multiple strategies to do so. I take time and practice to polish statements and evidence, for every case prosecution may have.”

Arlo Key is tried after killing a homeless man while driving under the influence of narcotics.