Today a lawyer trick made me laugh out loud in a courtroom. Yesterday I did the same thing.
I have spent much of the past three days listening in on a wrongful death lawsuit and reporting on its progress for the newspaper. The case is really nothing to laugh about, and I would never do that, but there can be moments during a trial that bring welcome diversions.
Today a defendant's lawyer was trying to make a point that the metal of a car involved in an accident expands slightly outward from the crush area sometime after impact. To illustrate his point he wadded up a piece of paper and placed it in front of the jury. From across the room I could see the ball of paper expand.
The object lesson was impressive, especially after hours of technical testimony and questions that probed into the most minute and sometimes mundane details.
Before the attorney ended his line of questioning he said, "How's my paperclip doing? Have you seen it move?"
The answer, of course, was no. Still, it was a cool lawyer trick that made the other cool lawyer trick look less cool.
Yesterday's moment of relief actually came with the jury out of the courtroom. Two lawyers were working to get a video deposition set up on their computer.
Both men appeared to be lacking simple technical skills. It took a long time for them to set everything up. They got out extension cords and speakers.
After about 10 minutes of work they placed the speakers on the end of a table, as close to the jury as possible. Their shoulders slumped and they looked defeated after they performed a sound test. The volume was obviously going to be inadequate.
At that moment a bailiff approached the forlorn lawyers, took their speakers, placed them in front of the microphone that was nearby and turned the microphone on.
The arrangement worked well for the rest of the day.
I guess to be fair, I should call that a bailiff trick.
3 comments:
I wish my days were filled with so many tricks.
All I can say is, you must have been enduring some pretty dry stuff if that was the comic relief...maybe you just had to be there.
There is a lawsuit that I have been following since 2003 that is taking place in Utah. There is a corporation that filed a lawsuits against several other companies for aleged violation of their Intelectual Property. The SCO Group filed the lawsuit in an effort to garner income from the increasing popularity of linux.
There is no such thing as a justice system. It should be called a due process system.
The parties to the lawsuits include Novell, IBM, Daimler Chrysler, Autozone, and RedHat. I am convinced that the lawsuits are wiehout merit, but here it is 5 years later and the trial is just beginning. The SCO Group is now in chapter 11 bankruptcy and it looks like they are headed for chapter 7.
The company is based in Lindon Utah. Novell is in Provo. The two companies had deep roots form the past and it is in the news that these Mormons from Utah are engaging in fraud. Not very inducive to good relations for the church. The CEO of TSCOG is a return missionary and his staff is populated with people from BYU.
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