Defending People

the tao of criminal-defense trial lawyering

The Blind Leading the Blind

| May 15, 2009

One of the common questions asked on Texas criminal lawyers’ listervs is, “does anyone have a voir dire for a … case they could share with me?” (I’m reliably informed that prosecutors do the same amongst themselves.) I have a friend—we’ll call him “Bill Bomble”—who had some experience in show business before becoming a prosecutor. [...]

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Worst Jury Selection Advice Ever: Don’t Listen

| January 23, 2009

Elliott Wilcox at Trial Theatre (who could teach even John Bradley lessons on self-aggrandizement as a prosecutor) on the outspoken juror giving answers unfavorable to your client’s case: You do NOT want them sitting in judgment of your client.  They hate you, your client, or your case, and you don’t want them on your jury.  [...]

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Problems With Judge Voir Dire

| May 13, 2008

Notes I wrote during a federal judge’s voir dire a few months ago: A judge’s voir dire is calculated to get jurors to promise to follow the law while a lawyer’s voir dire is calculated to find those who might have difficulty following the law. A judge’s voir dire is calculated to get jurors to [...]

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Always Ready, Seldom Prepared

| April 22, 2008

The title of this post is, according to Terry MacCarthy (buy the cross-examination CDs!), the criminal-defense lawyer’s credo. I had always thought of it as descriptive — the way we are — rather than prescriptive — the way we should be. We should be prepared, shouldn’t we? Yes and no. There are things we can [...]

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