Friday, October 27, 2017
Never ask a question that you don't know the answer to
A concept in court that we learned in class was to never ask a question that you don't know the answer to. This really hurt the prosecution attorney Christopher Darton when he asked OJ to try on the glove. OJ had taken measures before to make the glove not fit, and if Darton had not asked for him to put on the glove, people believed that the glove was large and the evidence would not be dismissed. Barry Scheck used this concept to his advantage when he questioned Officer Fuhrman. He asked whether he had used the N-word in the past 10 years already knowing the answer, and caught Fuhrman lying under oath. This concept can be very powerful in the justice system, and I believe that if you ever find yourself there, think before you speak when you are being questioned.
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Great points Erik, I completely agree. This seems like a basic practice in the court of law and when people slip up it can hurt them big time. In my eyes, I feel that Mark Fuhrman should have just confessed to using the N Word and then proceeded to apologize and recognize the mistake and remind the jury that this would still have nothing to do with him planting evidence. Instead, he got exposed and plead the 5th when asked questions. He got another opportunity to make it better but failed.
ReplyDeleteI also agree and think this is a very important strategy to know for court and for real world debates. I think that if Fuhrman would've just confessed to using the word it would not have had anywhere near the same impact as lying about it had. I think it was a pretty normal thing back then, especially for police, so the fact that he said it didn't mean much but the fact that he lied about it made a greater impact on how the jurors saw him. I think the idea of "thinking before you speak" applies to more than just court, it's a great life skill to have in all situations. Another lesson to be learned from this is to go with what you know, don't fall in to what other people are doing because, for the most part, the other people have a better idea of it than you and you could fall into a trap just like the prosecution did. "Don't ask a question that you do not know the answer to".
ReplyDeleteVery good point. When it was found that Furhman lied on the stand, it destroyed the case of the prosecution. When the opposite side knows more about your evidence than you do, it is very bad for your case.
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ReplyDeleteWhen being asked these questions I think it is more important to know how to get away with the most broad response possible. Obviously lawyers want to get information out of others and try to trap them in their own lies, so they ask questions they know the answers to in order to trick the person being questioned. When put in this situation it is hard to decide whether the truth or a lie could be more harmful to one's reputation, so it is definitely important to think before you speak.
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