Inviting The Judge & Jury To Your Criminal Lawyer’s Persuasive Ideas
Inviting the judge and jury to internalize your Virginia criminal attorney's persuasive arguments is key, says Fairfax criminal lawyer
Inviting judge, jurors and prosecutors to truly hear, internalize, and accept your criminal defense attorney's arguments is a sensible path, whereas getting all hot and bothered over judges who seem to have made up their minds before even starting court, jurors who seem not to want to be in the courtroom, and prosecutors who are convinced that they have accurate crystal balls. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that if I expect my audience always to give the fairest of hearings and consideration to me and my Virginia criminal defense clients, I am in the wrong profession. Instead, Virginia DUI and criminal defense work is about opening judges', jurors' and prosecutors' ears, minds and hearts to the possibility that any preconceived notions they may have about my criminal defense client, the state of the applicable law, and even the state of the world is not automatically or necessarily what they at first might think. If any of them are going to walk into the courtroom ready to be like a steamroller, as a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I want at least plant seeds of discomfort and second thought about whether they feel right acting and thinking that way with me and my client.
Expecting judges and jurors to do the right thing can end up in feeling debilitated. Showing them a simple path to that end is the way.
Why was McDonald's so wildly successful for so many decades before so many more healthful options added themselves to the culinary landscape? Their restaurants are priced well, deliver the same quality product at every location, have basic and short menus, are usually fast, usually have no drama, usually make children comfortable and may even have a play area, and leave customers with no surprises. They are inviting of all socioeconomic backgrounds, all political stripes, and all ages to spend a few moments in a familiar and comfortable-enough-feeling setting. A lot of that can be successfully applied by a Virginia criminal defense lawyer to persuade judges, jurors and prosecutors. When we make our audience comfortable and not jittery that they are about to be assaulted with invective, off-the-wall-seeming words (versus creative), they are more likely to listen and to re-evaluate their preconceived notions.
Inviting judges, jurors and prosecutors to decide in a Virginia criminal defendant's favor by empowering them to do so
At the Trial Lawyers College, one of the approaches discussed about persuading judges and jurors is the option to do soft cross examination of a hostile opposing witness, rather than the Virginia criminal defense lawyer's being like a bull in a china shop, which is a way of inviting the opposing witness to shed their defensive armor. For instance, instead of coming full guns at a snitch trying to save his or her ass from decades more time in prison, the criminal defense lawyer can include at least a full chapter of cross examination about how long the snitch has already been from their loved ones, friends, job, a comfortable bed, and fresh air any time they want. Rather than composing in my mind a letter to the Virginia legislators not to renew the term of a Fairfax trial judge who had -- in my view -- improvidently denied my motion to suppress the search that revealed marijuana in my client's rear floorboard, during closing argument I laid my honest cards on the table (these words are as I recall them): "Your Honor, I wish I were back at the suppression hearing stage, convincing your Honor that this was a Fourth Amendment-violating police search of my client's rear car floorboard." At that very moment, the judge responded: "You're right. It was an unlawful search." The judge then acquitted my client, and proceeded to lecture my client nonetheless, which I think was improvident at best, but much preferable to a conviction.
Why does my judge seem so friendly to the prosecutor and so hostile to me as a Virginia criminal defendant?
Many of my Virginia criminal defense clients are charged with abominable behavior, to the point that few if any people would want to be their next door neighbors, and possibly not even be their fellow townspeople. When a judge or jurors look like they are being hostile to the defense, that hostility better not be towards the Virginia criminal defense lawyer (as much as that can be avoided), and the criminal defense lawyer needs to be humanizing his or her client as much as possible, inviting the judge and jurors to sufficiently consider the evidence, and, with sentencing, needs to show how the factors that caused the prosecuted favor are being dismantled and will be reversed. As much as it can be exasperating to see your judge at once being jocular with the prosecutor and even the police officer in your case, but downright nasty to you and/or your Virginia criminal defense lawyer, you help yourself the best by keeping your eyes on the prize of having you and your lawyer persuade the judge to your side.
Will Rogers was right- Find something to like and respect in everyone, and you will persuade them better
Entertainer Will Rogers said he never met a person he did not like. His was an inviting soul and spirit. When a Virginia criminal defense lawyer takes that approach with judges, jurors and prosecutors, their ears, minds and hearts will be more likely to open up to their words and arguments. We want to be with people who give us a chance to be the best we can be, and not with some scowling humanoid who expects the worst from us. When judges, jurors and prosecutors see that we leave open the possibility for them ultimately to do the right thing, they are more likely to do just that.
Can Virginia judges and jurors be persuaded by manipulation or talking down to them? Of course not
So many marketing messages are so demeaning, incessant and irritating -- all the opposite of being inviting -- that successfully persuading Virginia criminal defense lawyers should know well enough to do the opposite. People want to keep their dignity and sense of the world to remain intact. They do not want their time wasted. They do not want to be talked down to. They want to be respected. They can and must be persuaded in that place. When you see your potential Virginia criminal defense lawyer acting in that positive way from the get go, you are onto something. When they do the opposite -- for instance in the way they treat their employees or approach you and any friends ore relatives who join you -- think twice.
Watch for the glimmer of gold from the judge and jurors, rather than getting sidetracked by the poop.
The words of some hostile-seeming judges might sometimes feel so stinging and sometimes so very unbecoming of a judge, that a Virginia criminal defense lawyer can miss the inviting gifts that are interspersed along the way. First, if the judge and jurors harbor harsh feelings and thoughts about the defendant and the defense arguments, at least if the criminal defense lawyer knows that, s/he can make suitable adjustments along the way. Second, paying attention non-defensively to even vile-sounding words can sometimes reveal aspects of the talker's viewpoint that is favorable -- or at least not unfavorable -- to the criminal defendant and their lawyer, both by what is said and not said, and by body language. You did not hire your lawyer to have his or her ego stroked in the courtroom, but to fight like hell for you, and to figure out how to undo and reverse poop, and to find flecks of gold even in any feces that flies in the courtroom.
Inviting judges and jurors to rule in favor of the defense can involve painting a persuasive counterstory for them.
A children's story tells about a vicious lion, so unnecessarily ferocious that he scares the daylights out of everyone in earshot. The initial impression the listener gets is that this needs to be feared. A compassionate boy sees all this and notices a mean thorn sticking in the lion's paw, and pulls it out, and the lion turns into a teddy bear. That is the lion's inviting counterstory. A persuasive Virginia criminal defense lawyer does not saddle himself with "aw sh*t" over how challenging the defense is, rather than pursuing the persuasive possibilities and counterstory in obtaining as much justice as possible for the defendant.
Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz goes beyond any initial impressions that judges, jurors, and prosecutors may have about your case, to turn them all around as much as possible to your favor when you are facing a Virginia DUI, felony, or misdemeanor prosecution. Call 703-383-1100 for your free in-person initial consultation with Jon Katz about your court-pending criminal case.
