First Step to Persuading Jurors: Simplify

Recent news out of California shows it might be impossible to simplify things too much for a jury.  A Fresno jury’s confusion about how to fill out the verdict form — they acquitted an accused burglar instead of indicating they were deadlocked as they intended — meant the man was freed from custody.  A few hours later, he was killed in a fight at a relative’s house.

Some might be inclined to dismiss these jurors as “stupid” and consider their verdict form dilemma a one-off.  However, this attitude ignores the reality that it doesn’t matter why the jury didn’t know how to fill out the form (and along the same lines, why jurors don’t understand concepts you may find basic such as agency or negligence).  All that matters is that for these jurors, this was their reality, and neither the attorneys nor the judge simplified the verdict form in a way that made sense to them.

Our experience has taught us that the side with the simpler story has the advantage.  Put another way, as one of our clients told us recently, “When you’re explaining, you’re losing.”

The point is that in this information-heavy world, where infinite data is available at the touch of a smartphone screen, delivering an effective story to a jury means providing the simplest package possible.  That package has to include discussion of the verdict form so jurors know what to expect when they start deliberating.

Concepts such as negligence, cause and agency can consume entire chapters in a law school textbook, but put these words on a verdict form and we expect jurors to understand them with a two-paragraph instruction.  Countless times we have interviewed jurors after a trial and heard, “I still don’t really know what negligence is.”

We often tell our attorney clients they know their cases too well, potentially producing false assumptions about what their jurors should, or will, understand.  This can also result in bad assumptions regarding jurors’ ability to navigate the verdict form, and attempts to educate your jury should always include an explanation of the verdict form and the concepts it contains. 

If you would like to talk with us about how best to explain some of the key concepts in one of your upcoming cases, please contact Senior Vice President Claire Luna at cluna@juryimpact.net or 714.754.1010.