By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Though Denver is still encased in snow, youth soccer season is just around the corner, and soon I’ll be watching my daughter and her teammates chase the ball around the field. At this age (six), they’re not yet playing positions, so one common bit of advice from their coach is […]
Complete Your Argument Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Give me the bite-sized version, break it down into pieces, and tell it to me step-by-step. The brain loves to segment, and the process known as “chunking” seems to be a central part of how we recognize patterns, manage information, and form new insights. A recent perspective on the process
Chunk Your Trial Message Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Litigators tend to implicitly believe that evidence can overcome attitudes and bias. Yes, it may be an uphill battle against a judge or juror’s hardened beliefs, but once they pay attention to the evidence, we will be able to change their minds, right? Even as we strike some, the faith
Expect Strong Beliefs to Cloud Analytical Ability Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Once a judge begins to solemnly instruct the jury, some assumptions immediately kick in. We assume the jurors follow and are comprehending the sometimes fine distinctions in law that have been fought over in the weeks before trial. And we assume that, once understood, those instructions are effective in guiding
Know the Power of a Cause Instruction: But for “But For,” Jurors Decide Differently Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Over the weekend, the jury in the George Zimmerman case acquitted the neighborhood watchman in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, evidently concluding that the prosecution failed to disprove the Defendant’s self-defense claim under Florida law. While there were numerous issues driving interest in this trial — racial profiling, concealed
Note the (Small) Difference a Female Jury Can Make Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The act of making choices makes us feel more powerful and more in control. Take the current debate on gun rights. Proponents of keeping firearms for self-defense are convinced that they’re safer because they’re armed. Statistically, however, having a gun in the house greatly increases the risk of violence through
Empower Through Choices Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is common experience that jurors will often set aside expert testimony. Part of it, of course, is a “hired gun” effect that in some cases leads jurors to distrust experts based on the knowledge that they’ve been paid for their opinions by one side or the other. But over
First Expert Rule: Keep It Concrete Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If you aren’t on Facebook, you may not have seen this before (and if you are, then you might see it, with different words, just about every day). The image and text above is called a “meme,” the “Condescending Wonka Meme” in this case. It’s a joke, of course, but
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Earlier this week at a mock trial, I witnessed a face-off between two jurors with very different views about the same insurance case: “The company wasn’t fair,” cried one, “to this day they haven’t stepped up to do the right thing.” But the other juror was unmoved: “The policy is
Pick the Right Frame Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm The law treats factual evidence as a repository possessed by the witness and elicited through testimony. Like a bucket, filled, in the case of your witnesses at least, with the sweet clear water of truth, you just dip in a ladle and out comes the descriptions, the observations, the facts.
Don’t Mistake the Witness for a Bucket of Facts Read More »