Jury verdicts turn on sympathy for the accused more than case facts
Evidence
“Jurymen seldom convict a person they like, or acquit one that they dislike. The main work of a trial lawyer is to make a jury like his client, or, at least to feel sympathy for him; facts regarding the crime are relatively unimportant.” -Clarence Darrow, defense attorney “The jury contributes most powerfully to form the judgment, and to increase the natural intelligence of a people; and this is, in my opinion, its greatest advantage. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 886
Categorization
- QUESTION: Empirically testable claim about juror psychology; does research support Darrow’s stark framing?
- SHARE: A trial-attorney friend would enjoy weighing Darrow’s craft advice against modern jury-selection practice.
- XREF: connects to: Jurors decide cases based on personal sympathy rather than facts — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1451; Juries may convict of lesser crimes than evidence warrants through sympathy — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 1741; Jurors sympathize with injured individuals, so corporations enter trials disadvantaged. — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action , 402 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Jurors decide cases based on personal sympathy rather than facts
#expands(0.98) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1451 - Sympathetic testimony can win a case regardless of legal merit.
#corroborates(0.93) — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 761 - Litigators fear sympathetic victim testimony more than any legal argument
#exemplifies(0.90) — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 1665 - Jurors sympathize with injured individuals, so corporations enter trials disadvantaged.
#exemplifies(0.88) — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 402 - Juries may convict of lesser crimes than evidence warrants through sympathy
#expands(0.82) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 1741