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I'm the last one to talk, but I wish Prof. Sam Sommers would post more often at his Psychology Today blog, The Science of Small Talk. This week's post observes aggressive drivers, at very close hand. "It's amazing how something as simple as sitting behind the wheel of a car can be enough to lead to such transformations in identity and behavior."
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Zabin v. Picciotto, the case where Judge Mitchell Sikora let the jurors dress up for Halloween, was affirmed this week in Massachusetts, and picked up by David Giacalone at f/k/a , Bob Ambrogi at Legal Blog Watch, and Massachusetts Lawyers' Weekly's blog The Docket. David says, "Naturally, we’re all waiting to see what jury expert Anne Reed has to say about all this," which is very nice of him. In fact, Deliberations has two posts about dress-up juries: this one (which includes the classic section, "A short, incomplete history of dress-alike juries"), and this one.
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On Thursday, I asked lawyers, "What do you think judges should do to improve voir dire where you practice?" Bobby G. Frederick at South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog responds, "In South Carolina, we could begin by having voir dire." It's a thoughtful post, from a state which does clock in with the fastest jury selection in the country.
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Thaddeus Hoffmeister at Juries reports on a trial that "ended in a mistrial before it began Tuesday when a prosecutor discovered three jurors lied about their criminal records."
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Elliott Wilcox suggests that you think about the message you're sending with that cool glass of water you keep at counsel table.
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Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice is fascinated by an amicus brief arguing that the jury has the right to know what the defendant's sentence will be.
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Evan Schaeffer at Illinois Trial Practice Weblog tells you what to do as soon as the deposition is over. Hint: It's not "file the transcript."
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Mark Bennett at Defending People has been working his way through the American Society of Trial Consultants' latest issue of The Jury Expert. "I Want Angry Jurors With Low Self-Esteem," he concludes in reaction to Alison Bennett's piece on "just-world" jurors. A few posts later, he considers how a male lawyer might take advantage of Elizabeth Parks-Stamm's research on women's reactions toward successful women, and I argue with him a little in the comments.
Finally, a programming note: I'm excited to be appearing tomorrow (Monday) on KQED, San Francisco Public Radio, on the "Forum With Michael Krasny" show. The topic is "Judging Juries," and the rest of the panel consists of Chief Justice Ronald M. George of the Supreme Court of California; the reknowned jury scholar Neil Vidmar of Duke; and Sonia Chopra of the National Jury Project. I'm honored to be even remotely associated with those people. The show airs from 9:00 to 10:00 Pacific, and then should be available on line. [Update: I wasn't on the show after all, and the prominent consultant Howard Varinsky took the place of Chief Justice George. Definitely worth listening to.]
(Photo by Ho John Lee at http://www.flickr.com/photos/hjl/101443399/; license details there.)
