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August 11, 2008 in
It all started with Gerry Spence’s The Simple Secret of Winning post. Manhattan Paladin Scott Greenfield was inspired to make fun of Spence’s formula for winning. Connecticut public defender Gideon, in turn, was inspired to post his secret to winning: “Knowing your rear from your face, or, preparation.” Even better, he made it a meme, and tagged Scott, South Carolina criminal-defense lawyer Bobby Frederick, and me.
Bobby G.F. says that there is no secret, and then goes on to post eight suggestions: learn from others; try cases; know the law; prepare (“If you worked nights and weekends preparing your case for trial and covering every base, odds are you are miles ahead of the other guy”); win without fighting; tell your story; tell your client’s story through the prosecution’s witnesses; and care about your client. (Somebody needs to have a word with Bobby G.F. about the power of trilogy.) Bobby tags Maryland criminal-defense lawyer Jon Katz, Hostis Civitas, and Western Justice.
The Manhattan Paladin, Scott Greenfield, agrees with Bobby G.F. that “there is no secret”, but recommends that you see each case as unique. “While many appear the same on the surface, they never are in truth. Even the most pedestrian case has a unique element to it, and it’s up to the lawyer to find it. . . . There is no magic place to look to find this distinction, but it’s there. Somewhere. Just keep looking.” Paladin tags Crime and Federalism, Austin criminal-defense lawyer Jamie Spencer, and Omaha criminal-defense lawyer David Tarrell with the meme.
I disagree with the Manhattan Paladin and Bobby G.F.: there are secrets to winning cases. They is no secret in itself sufficient to win cases, but there are ways to improve your client’s odds that are not commonly recognized or properly understood; some of them even go against traditional wisdom.
Gideon and Bobby both write about preparing. Here’s one of my secrets: prepare just enough, then stop. Don’t just do something, sit there. Play with the kids. Just play. Read a book — something non-law-related. Write a poem. Take the dog for a walk. Get some exercise. Sleep.
The object of this exercise is to solve the puzzle with which the case presents you. Sometimes the puzzle is patent — how do I convince a jury that she didn’t know the cocaine was in her pocket? — but more often the puzzle is the meta-puzzle — what is unique about this case? what is the puzzle? or, in criminal-defense lawyer terms, what the hell is our defense?
Solving such puzzles requires inspiration. Inspiration doesn’t come when it’s sought; inspiration comes when you’ve fed all of the available data into your brain (by preparing fort trial and familiarizing yourself with the facts and the law) and then turned your attention to other matters. In order to win the trial, you have to give your brain time to work on the puzzle outside of your conscious attention. You can’t force it. And that, friends, is one of the secrets of successful criminal defense trial lawyering.
I’m tagging Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center’s AHCL for a Harris County prosecutor’s view, my fellow Houston criminal-defense lawyer Grant Scheiner (don’t foist this one off on young Matt Skillern!), and . . . hmm . . . how ’bout Dallas criminal-defense lawyer Robert Guest?
The most important thing to do is to listen to the client. Listen to their story. At some point, perhaps, return to the scene of the incident and have the client show you what happened — dramatization (psycho-drama). Consider, having the client show the jury what happened when they testify. Consider taking pictures of the scene. One defendant was accused of indecent exposure and the witness described his private part as particularly large (about 9) and the lawyer took pictures of the private part which was in fact somewhat small. The jury found him not guilty. The lawyer kept saying over and over —- a picture is worth a thousand words — what man would risk the ridicule of being called small if they were not innocent? I always look at the jury instructions for any and all possible arguments and defenses which I have over-looked and the web is the newest source — checking out personal web sites like myspace on witnesses. Prepare the closing argument first. Be able to tell the story. Have a theme. Have a headline. Provide ammunition for the jurors who will argue for acquittal. Believe in your client’s defense. Find your clients defense. Tell the client’s story in believable dramatic terms.
Yours in the Defense of Fellow Human Beings,
Glen R. Graham, Attorney at Law, Tulsa, Oklahoma
I was meditating in the Lotus position when it came to me…SHE HAD BORROWED SOMEONE ELSE’S PANTS!
Then I picked up the phone, left Lindsay a VM reminder about the rest of my $150,000 fee, and returned to my meditations.
There is no secret to winning. Either the truth is on your side, or it isn’t. (See No. 10 on AHCL’s site, which might as well have been No. 1 and only.) If you are honest with the jury and can demonstrate to them that you are right, you will win. Sounds simplistic, but it’s true. Align yourself with the facts as much as possible and don’t insult their intelligence and destroy your credibility with them by making ridiculous arguments.
There are no secrets?…
Yin Yang On a rainy September morning a dozen years ago, with a few days left between leaving my public defender post to return to private practice, I pondered which way to drive for a mini-vacation. "Where do I want to visit that I have not ye…
Spence gives up the secret to success in full living color…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOGm3yG9WJE