Chapter 3 Openings

• Library: How to Win an Acquittal (ABA) (2011 Ed.)

CHAPTER 3 Openings Trial Diary 3

We went right into openings. The imposing, skilled, and loud Maria D. spoke for the government. Maria is an experienced lawyer who has bested me before. She went for an hour and a half. She used a pretty PowerPoint slide show, complete with images of cash moving around. But it was a complicated and disconnected story she told, and it seemed to me too much, too soon for the jurors. Up next was Tom G., D.C. legend, talented and fiercely intelligent, and one of six lawyers for the governor's team. Tom used a PowerPoint show, too. And talked quick for an hour and 15 minutes. As I watched Tom, I thought of the movie Chicago and Billy Flynn, Richard Gere's character. Tom sounded good to me. And best I could tell, Tom was saying the governor knew nothing and did nothing wrong.

Then it was my turn. I went 45 minutes. I got up and told the jurors I didn't have a clever PowerPoint. I had a word. A word that described Luisa's defense. And I wrote the word on a board in the courtroom—"please." I wrote slowly, keeping the jurors wondering what word I was spelling. Then I turned and...