I've posted on this topic before, but came across this interesting event from a products liability case. At the end of a trial, the plaintiff apparently began his closing argument in the traditional way - thanking the jury for their time. But, then he said that his client - the Plaintiff - would like to stand and thank the jury as well.
It's good to know, at this point, that the plaintiff is a grandmother was suing on behalf of her daughter and grandchildren who had died in events giving rise to the suit.
As the Texas Supreme Court put it:
Immediately, without leave of court or notice to opposing counsel, [the plaintiff] stood and said to an all-Hispanic jury: "Muchas gracias les doy de parte de mis nietos y mi hija y de parte mia la jurado." ("Thank you very much to the jury on the part of my grandchildren and my daughter and on my part.")
At oral argument before the Texas Supreme Court, the lawyer conceded that it was improper for the plaintiff to address the jury but argued that the error was harmless. The Supreme Court thought the harm was "manifest" to any experienced trial lawyer. A party's personal expression of gratitude to the jury at the close of a case is error that cannot be repaired, the Court said.
I would tend to agree that this is pretty tacky tactics, but still stand by the idea that a jury ought to be pretty wise to this scam. It's an obvious play for sympathy. And, once again, you would hope that jurors would do better than feel obliged to give the person employing this tactic money as a reward for the tactic. Would the case really have turned out differently if grandma had not said this?
No comments:
Post a Comment