Show and Tell: Not Just For the Classroom

A primary focus of our research is uncovering the right arguments, language and messages to connect with the widest range of jurors possible and tell the most effective, compelling story.  However, some recent focus groups and online research projects have highlighted the importance of showing jurors, in addition to telling them.   

We have always been fans of visual timelines, but in a recent medical malpractice case this was one of the most effective, and essential, education pieces for the defense.  Not only did the timeline – incorporating entries from the medical record as well as caregiver testimony – help to establish the many actions caregivers took during a difficult, fast-paced resuscitation (the plaintiff accused caregivers of “sitting on their hands”), it demonstrated to jurors a sense of urgency and teamwork that ultimately supported the defense narrative. 

During medical focus groups, we have also found it beneficial to bring in the actual equipment used for the procedure in question – whether it be intubation equipment, resuscitation tools, IV bags or even surgical sponges.  Jurors don’t have intimate knowledge of this equipment and how it is used, and allowing them to see, and in some cases touch, these tools helps to not only identify misconceptions and crucial questions prior to trial, but also provides crucial feedback for how to present and talk about this equipment. 

For example, in a recent focus group after jurors handled an endotracheal tube and understood how it was used, they consistently referred to it as a “breathing tube,” which was a much less technical and more easily relatable name.  We also suggested to our client that when the case goes to trial, the key doctor use the equipment to explain the process to the jury.  This not only helps the jury to understand what it does, but provides an opportunity for the witness to connect with the jury while talking about what he knows best.

In addition to showing jurors, sometimes it is important to provide context for what they are seeing – especially in cases where there is unlikely to be knowledge or familiarity among laypeople.  For example, during a recent workplace injury case, jurors initially believed the design of a particular product “invited” workers to use it in a dangerous manner.  Although jurors had been shown a photo of the machine’s control panel, it was only once the various safety catchalls were described, and it was explained just how many steps the employee had to intentionally bypass in order to use the machine the way he did, were they persuaded the only dangerous aspect of the machine was the way the employee chose to use it – not the design itself.

If you have an upcoming case that could benefit from juror feedback on demonstratives and visuals, please call us at 714.754.1010 or email cluna@juryimpact.net.