Zimmerman’s Disaster
Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’Mara, has made his first mistake, and it may be fatal to his client’s defense. George Zimmerman must defend the charges against him with self-defense. This means he must...
View ArticleZimmerman’s Venue
Quo Vadis1 George? Where do you want your trial? Sanford? Isn’t this the county that fired its police chief for not arresting you? And the governor replaced the state attorney to be sure you are...
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Zimmerman: The Golden Minute
The best examples for teaching trial advocacy come from actual trials. Concrete always trumps abstract for learning. The George Zimmerman trial opening statements provided a lot of grist for my mill....
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Zimmerman: Primacy & Recency
My advice to trial lawyers – throw out the trial advocacy books filled with old wives’ tales, and study human behavior. The opening arguments in the Zimmerman trial are a good example of using the...
View ArticleZimmerman Opening: Recency
As I wrote in my last post, recency, the last words the jury hears, carries persuasive power. John Guy made the most of it in his concluding sentences: “We are confident at the end of this trial you...
View ArticleFailure to Practice
Preparation: More is better. Much more is much better. You never get to a point where you can let up. Never. –Tom Peters Think back on the just-completed Zimmerman trial, not for the backlash on the...
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