Taking a jury 50 years back in time
Well – you should have a theme says every trial consultant ever. And indeed we should. But does that mean we disregard how voir dire went. That we stick with a plan that may not be resonating – or isn’t the main thing on everyone’s mind.
And thus we enter the flip flop phase of trial life at least for this trial lawyer. Because number one focus is on presenting a message that will make sense. And following voir dire, the thing that most people are concerned about isn’t the childhood sexual abuse in all its awfulness. No. They’ve been told it happened. It is a fact. That the case is about whether DSHS is negligent – not whether the foster parent abuse occurred. The thing that is the most amazing to all of the jurors is how old this case is: “How can we sit in judgment on a situation where we weren’t even born yet.”
We need to show the jury that what happened 50 years ago was so basically and fundamentally wrong – that time makes no difference in the outcome. It was wrong then. It is wrong now.So what to do about opening. New mission – compile a time capsule over the weekend.
Monday morning. Set up two camping tables, a wooden captains chair, and place a box on the “stage”. Judge comes in. Jurors enter. Judge instructs. Turns the floor over. The jury watches.
Walk up to the captains chair. Don’t say goodmorning members of the jury and judge and counsel and we are so privileged - no nothing like that.
Am in character starting from moment one.
Take off jacket. Pull the paisley dress on right over my shirt and slacks. Careful not to dislodge the glittering dangly earrings. Mom’s jade piece that she used as a magical pendulum around my neck. Set up the manual typewriter. Can’t figure how to get it out of its steel box so leave it in. Prop up giant (wall mount) telephone at an angle on a file of old high school papers. So the receiver will stay in place. Narrating as the stage is being set. Jimmy Carter is president. Bruce now Caitlyn Jenner just won the men’s decathalon gold medal in the summer Olympics. The Vietnam war has ended. Jaws is a box office success. Microsoft filed its corporate papers in New Mexico.
The rest flows out of me like lava. As I dial the phone and have one way conversations. Type memos to the file – rat a tap tap tap. Read from Manual G which is in an orange folder that dad had kept my grade school papers in. Making sure am taking every step necessary not to license a bad man. Which is the exact opposite of what actually happens.
After the jury has rendered its verdict, they chat with us and ask: have you been a professional actor. Because at first we thought - what is going on. But that feeling didn’t last long before we were right back in time with you.