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Really Bad Opening Arguments

I've read quite a few trial transcripts, and now that some cases have concluded, I can share with you some really bad trial lawyering.  Here is an actual quotation from an opening statement in a criminal case:Now, I'm a fighter.  I am saying this for the ladies on the jury.  I'm a big man.  I'm a fighter.Why was that said?  Your guess is as good as anyone's.  Incidentally, that was almost the entirety of his opening statement.  The rest of his performance was just as bad, though in different ways.  If I were charged with a crime, I'd know whom to call.  Yet of all the lawyers I've met and worked with, there are only 3 or 4 that I'd trust with my freedom.  Talk to guys decades my senior, and you'll learn that their lists wouldn't be much longer...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on November 24, 2008 (boomark / email).