About Jules M Epstein (hehimhis) 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
The great jazz trumpeter Miles Davis recorded his classic Seven Steps to Heaven in 1963, with no explanation as to why this was the number of steps needed to ascend. He just laid down a seven beat, seven note structure and the music flew. Well, perhaps there are an equal number of steps to “hearsay heaven,”
Among Irving Younger’s commandments were the well-known dictates of “be brief” and “save the ultimate point of your cross for summation.” The latter was the model for an eyewitness cross-examination at a recent training on litigating mistaken identification cases, but when we polled the mock jury one of its members – discussing the cross –
A successful opening statement: Draws in the listener from the first sentences; Narrates facts into a story-board or framework that the audience – judge or jury – is familiar and comfortable with; Tells that story with less attention to finite details and more to ensuring that the gist is grasped; Is persuasive without becoming argumentative;
The prevailing practice in many jurisdictions, usually compelled by custom rather than law, is to ask a testifying expert whether the opinion proffered or the conclusion drawn is held “to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty.” Yet scientists do not proclaim certainty in their domains; instead they acknowledge and embrace scientific knowledge as an area