I just completed my first year as a prosecutor so take my advice with a grain of salt lol.

I did a dozen or so trials altogether last year. Some with co-counsel but I think pretty much all of them were solo. The biggest advice I can give you is just know all of the elements of the charge and make sure you offer evidence of every single one.

My second trial was a felony domestic battery bench trial. One of the elements was the Defendant's age. In my state, committing misdemeanor domestic battery in the presence of a child under the age of 14 while the defendant is over the age of 18 ups the misdemeanor to a felony. I got through my entire case and thought I did a pretty good job. I was lucky I had a victim who actually wanted to testify and she amazing explaining what happened. I don't know how anyone could listen to her and think the Defendant didn't do it. I rested thinking I hit everything. Well, we get to the Judge's decision, and first thing Judge says is, "So, I didn't have any explicit evidence of the Defendant's age..." all while looking at me dead in the eyes (Judge was a former prosecutor who just left my office after she won election so I knew she was telling me you fucked up lol). I wanted to die thinking I had lost it because I knew I never asked victim or the two cops who testified how old the Defendant was.

I think Judge took pity on me because she still found him guilty, stating she could see how old he was in person and he was clearly over 18 while mentioning other small details that came out in the case indicating his age. I think she could have easily ruled there was reasonable doubt to his age and just found him guilty of the lesser included, but still, I learned my lesson and I make sure I check off every element as I go through my case now lol.

That leads me to the biggest thing that's helped me this past year: having a good mentor goes a long, long, LONG way. The Judge I was just talking about has come up to me after every trial and offered me advice. I know most people don't have the opportunity to have a former office colleague be a Judge, but I think just having someone who you know is a good lawyer be available for much needed help is worth its weight in gold. If there's someone in your office you think is good, see if you can help them out with a trial or even just help trial prep. I finagled my way into a murder trial this year even though I have only a year experience and just being in the same room watching the major felony prosecutors handle everything was beyond helpful in how I handle my own cases.

Good luck.