Jury Appeal

Much research has pointed out that the order one receives information can change how one makes a decision.  The first information received gains the most currency for making a decision.  Each subsequent piece of information receives smaller amounts of consideration.  Combine this with the issue of framing and you have the recipe for designing persuasive testimony.  As a practical matter this might mean breaking the chronological order that witnesses usually testify with.  Instead of asking a question like “Take me through the accident from the beginning?,”   you might start with “Were you in pain when they strapped you to the back board in order to take you to the hospital?,”  or “when did you first notice the pain running down your leg?  You have at this point framed the case around the plaintiffs pain and put the idea of pain to the forefront of decision making for the jury.

The first item jurors should hear from your witness is the item you want them to most use for their decision.  For the defense, you might want to use for your fact witness, “What was the plaintiff doing when you first saw her after the accident?” Especially, if the answer is “she was standing next to her car calmly talking into her cell phone!”  The image you leave for the jurors with this question is a direct contradiction to the plaintiffs claim of injury from the accident.  This re-framing image will have a powerful emotional component for jurors who are “doubting” the veracity of the injuries.