Criminal Justice
Trial Lawyer’s Advice: Prepare, Connect ... and Don’t Despair
Posted Feb 4, 2008, 12:43 pm CST
By Martha Neil
Preparation, eye contact and empathy with witnesses are all key to winning a trial in front of a jury, a seasoned criminal lawyer says.
But if all your hard work fails to impress the jury, don't despair. There's always at least a faint hope of a Perry Mason moment, British barrister Jim Sturman tells the London Times.
Years ago, for instance, as Sturman was defending a man whose dog allegedly had injured sheep, the main prosecution witness was "absolutely confident that he’d identified the correct dog," the barrister recounts. "In a last throw of the dice, I reminded him that the offense carried the death penalty for the dog and inquired as to whether he could be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that he wasn’t mistaken.
"After a long pause, he said that he couldn’t, and the dog was gloriously acquitted."
For more of Sturman's advocacy advice, read the full article.