One of the professors that taught me trial advocacy at Baylor Law School said that picking a jury is the most important part of a case.
As a law student, that baffled me.
More important than presenting compelling evidence? More important than preparing witnesses? More important than dissecting the opponent’s arguments on cross-examination?
Once I started trying cases, I understood. Yes, choosing who decides your case is the most important part of a legal contest.
Lessons Learned from Losing
In hindsight, some of my best closing arguments were in the trials I lost. Not always, but several times, it was because I was talking to the wrong audience. Revisiting the case with the jury at the conclusion of trial revealed that the decision to allow certain people on the jury sabotaged my efforts. They just weren’t going to be persuaded.
Our nation’s civil rights jurisprudence is replete with examples of how this plays out in courtrooms.
Historically, the reason White men who lynched Black folks walked on those charges for so long is because minorities weren’t allowed to serve on juries.
Another example can be found in domestic abuse cases. Men who abused their partners were hardly ever convicted until women were allowed to serve on juries.
Further, one reason that wrongful convictions, sometimes overturned decades later, land so frequently on minorities is because of juries that look so different than the accused.
You can have the most righteous cause in the world, with the best evidence, but if the wrong people hear the case, you won’t win.
Some Folks Just Won’t Listen
In the Bible, we’re given examples of this in this in the teachings of Jesus. Speaking of John the Baptist (Matt. 11:7-19), imprisoned for offending the conscience of the king, Jesus vents his frustration at the disdain of John’s audience:
Whoever has ears, let them hear. “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
“ ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.
The very frustrating fact of the matter is that wisdom is often not recognized in real time and, by some folks, not at all.
This feels like a good reminder for those whose arms have tired from swimming against the current doing important work. It’s very possible that the problem isn’t you; you’ve got the wrong jury listening. And no amount of evidence will matter if you’re talking to the wrong people. But, eventually, wisdom is proved right by her deeds.
Be encouraged; the problem may not be you.
That’s just how I feel about it. Tell my why I’m wrong. I’m not wrong, but tell me anyway.
This really resonated with me. Why keep swimming against the current when I know I'm not being heard in that community? I have the power to change which community I talk to.
Sounds right to me.