Read My Lips - the blog

Dog & Pony Show: Day 1

Well, at 8:15am, I was in the courthouse ready to begin another rousing Dog & Pony Show. I spoke with my client about needing to sign an application for probation, and he declines, then the DA approaches me with a much better offer, which my client still declines. I think my client's chances of getting acquitted are slim, but he refuses to budge, saying either the jury convicts him or they let him go. So, off to the Dog & Pony Show we go. The jury panel arrived approximately 9:30 am. The court had actually ordered a double panel, thinking there might be two trial possibilities this week, but everyone else fell through but mine so we had a shitload of possible jurors. After the general qualification questions, the judge allowed anyone who had some excuse to come forward to explain their reasons. Approximately 25 people came forward and came up with one excuse after another. Most were pretty good excuses, but not valid excuses for jury service, but with so many, both the DA and I agreed one after another to allow them to go. I think we kept 2 out of the 25, and those two had not really wanted off, just thought maybe they were not qualified.

We break, come back, and then the DA starts questioning the prospective jurors to discover what biases, experiences, and what-not they might have that would make them less than desirable jurors for this case. He is not finished when lunchtime arrives, so we recess for lunch.

After lunch, he resumes for about another 10 minutes. Then I get up and do my questioning and spiel for about 45 minutes. I have never felt like it was necessary to go over the same ground as the state, but I see other attorneys who think they have to do it because it is on their outline. I do my outline for each individual trial, on the fly. That is how I have always tried criminal cases, on the fly. There is actually so little you can find out about testimony until it occurs, because there is no discovery in criminal cases in Texas. Well, there is, but the DA's always say they have an open file policy, and they do. You can look all through their file and take whatever notes you wish, but you can't get copies of anything. Mostly anything you get is an outline or case report anyway, and what the police officers say on the stand is usually much more than they write down. They have learned to make their statement brief, so that they do not lock themselves into facts. That makes it easier for them to change things to counter any defenses you propose.

Anyway, the jury was finally seated, and the real show starts tomorrow. The police officers take the stand and tell their side of the story. I already prepped the jury on my "truth is relevant to perception" philosophy, so tomorrow we see if they paid any attention. I actually like this jury. It is a lot of housewives and blue collar workers. Much better than the usual 12 bankers, accountants, and engineers I get. They are so ultra-conservative as a rule that they require the defendant to prove his innocence before voting for acquittal.

It is amazing how few people understand picking a jury. You don't pick them, you pick the ones that you know or think will not be good for your side, the other side does the same, and then you use the ones left over. You don't pick good jurors, you eliminate bad ones ... or at least try to do so.

I guess what I love the best is that there are so many attorneys in the world, and so few who really love to do the whole Dog & Pony Show! I love jury trials. It is the closest to stand-up I ever get. I got quite a few laughs today. And they really liked my tie. I know, I asked them.

Posted by Tiger at August 25, 2003 05:08 PM | TrackBack