We have clients who don’t look like or who are not like most of the Caucasians onour jury panel. This represents a challenge in securing a fair trial for our client. There are many ways to deal with this, but I offer the following from an actual trial involving a civil plaintiff. He spoke broken English, had a full religious beard and was a member of the Sikh religion. He was a naturalized citizen from India where he had been…
At a recent trial lawyer’s convention I attended in Boston I wrote down some ideas speakers suggested regarding jury selection. One lawyer from New Mexico gave a great talk about questions which put the jurors in the shoes of your client and help them become involved in the situation so they have personal concern. In defending a client accused of murder when she shot an ex husband who had come into her home at night she asked questions like: :…
Honor the zone of privacy A "zone of privacy" is the distance between two people in communication where one feels comfortable. Studies have shown that different cultures have different zones of privacy. This depends upon how well the parties know one another. In some cultures, one has to be very close and even touching in some manner to have a comfortable communication. In other cultures the distance may be as much as three feet when first meeting and invasion of…