About Jules M Epstein (hehimhis) Did you know about the lawyer who: Told their client they could not testify because their criminal record and its details would be admissible where the law was directly to the contrary. Let the jury know their client “lawyered up” and sat idly by while the prosecutor argued that as proof of guilt. Filed a
Which of these is “true?” “Veredictum, quasi dictum veritas; ut judicium quasi juris dictum. A verdict is, as it were, the saying of the truth, in the same manner that a judgment is the saying of the law.” https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Veredictum (last visited March 17, 2022). The jury’s job is not to determine the truth of what
The power of ordering – where you place a fact or argument – should be beyond question. But read on – what goes first at trial may not always determine outcome. The importance of ordering is known well beyond the courtroom and is the starting place for much of cognitive psychology. It is proved in
Nearly thirty-five years ago, the problems with ‘forensic’ hypnosis were acknowledged as real – “[T]hat hypnosis guarantees the accuracy of recall is as yet without established foundation…” “[I]n fact, hypnosis often has no effect at all on memory.” “The most common response to hypnosis, however, appears to be an increase in both correct and incorrect
We have all seen it or read it in a transcript – the self-satisfied if not smirking delivery of the lines “were you lying then or are you lying now” after a witness has been impeached. And what follows is all-too-often an explanation that defeats the juxtaposition of the two differing versions of events –
Do the photographs, paintings or flags in a courthouse or jury deliberation room affect how a case is decided? That question led to the reversal of a criminal conviction in Tennessee, part of the ongoing discussion of race, racism and implicit bias that continues in the criminal justice system. And that reversal was based in
Is it impermissible to use the term “victim” in a criminal trial? On its surface, the question may appear silly – the trial has a victim [accuser] and defendant [accused]. Yet the issue arises periodically, and was highlighted in recent trials. First, who or what is a victim? According to Black’s Law Dictionary, it is
Despite familiarity with the phrase “less is more,” lawyers can’t seem to help themselves – they ask question after question after question. That this irks jurors is beyond doubt. As one article written by a jurist who interviewed hundreds of jurors reported, The most important theme that came through on evidence presentation: do not repeat
As best I can discern, there was no formal discipline of cognitive psychology during the time of the ancient Greeks – no polls on google, no studies with mock juries, no control groups and no brain scans. Yet Aristotle penned advice that seems core to the force of narrative and how we might capture an
It is no surprise that many feel dismay over the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse and see the verdict as resulting from the American tolerance of gun culture; a nearly all-white jury favoring a white defendant; a baby-faced [in the jurors’ eyes] teen who did not match a stereotype of a ‘gun-toting’ marauder; and a reaction