By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: At the voir dire stage of a jury trial, the word “bias” gets used a lot. But do we really know what it means? The courts, in practice at least, hew to a simple meaning: If a potential juror admits to bias, that means they know they can’t be fair […]
See the Social Roots of Bias Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm Traditionally, we might think about what happens in the jury room as a kind of “Black box,” an unknown process with jurors keeping their secrets on how they got to their verdicts. In practice, however, we know a fair amount about what’s in that “box.” Based on both scholarly research
Better Instructions: Make Your Jurors Accountable Devil’s Advocates Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: For many defense attorneys, there is a routine to the way that they’ll ask jurors to be fair at the start of their opening statement: There are two sides, you haven’t heard the whole story, please keep an open mind. It almost takes on the quality of a ritual incantation, done as much
Defense Opening: Give Jurors a Reason for an Open Mind, Not Just a Request for One Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: A ‘Golden Rule’ argument is one that encourages jurors to put themselves in a party’s shoes and think about what they would or wouldn’t have done. It leads to an objection because it encourages the juror to embrace a personal conclusion that isn’t necessarily drawn from the facts. The Golden
Expect Jurors to Project Themselves into the Situation Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Juneteenth is now a federal holiday, and even as many would prefer action on voting rights protection, equal access to education and healthcare, and police reform, the symbol is still important. It highlights both the progress and the work to be done on race in this country. In our courtrooms,
Voir Dire: Select on Attitudes, not Race Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney has just been stripped of her leadership role as the number three Republican in the House. The precipitating incident seems to be that she would not silence her claim that the 2020 Presidential election was not stolen and continuing to criticize the former President for leading
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: How bad would it be if, after making it through a year of the pandemic with your health intact, you came down with the virus at the end: You almost got to the point of vaccination, only to become infected at the last moment. That would be pretty bad. In
Account for ‘Close Counterfactuals’ in Your Trial Stories: The Loser that Almost Won Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In the classic movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, there is a scene that is familiar to fans. It is medieval plague-ridden times, and a man pulls a cart through a village, calling, “Bring out yer dead!” When one body is brought to him, the body protests that he isn’t
Appreciate the Nuance: Persuasion Isn’t Dead (Yet) Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Lawyers are trained to think logically and analytically. So, if a category ABC includes A, B, and C, one would expect the total, ABC, to be the same as A, B, and C measured separately. But it isn’t always. When human decision-making is factored in, the sum of A, B,
Account for ’the Unpacking Effect’: Sums Are Less than Their Parts Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: In recent days, I’ve been thinking about all of the “QAnon” followers, and how and whether they are reconciling recent events with their belief in Donald Trump’s role in purging the top echelons of politics and society before he left office. I’ve wondered how people believe it in the first
Remember that Feelings Trump Facts Read More »