Notes on BSG: “The Farm”

What, you don't watch Battlestar Gallactica? What's wrong with you? But that's ok; I watched, and here's what you missed:

Geez, Starbuck, are you hot for every guy who looks like Apollo?

Yay! EJO (Captain Adama) is back! But why is he being so stupid about wanting to be enemies w/the president? Come on, man, don't follow Tie's lead! Just because he screwed everything up doesn't mean you have to be stupid, too.

No. You can't kill Starbuck. EJO just got well and now you've shot Starbuck!? Quit screwing w/us, Mr. Moore!

Can you love a machine? I love my computer. Does that mean the Cylons are just machines?

Does Starbuck even have the Arrow of Apollo? That's why she was going back to Caprica in the first place, right? I haven't seen that damn thing in a while. I guess she's too busy getting jiggy w/Cylons like Anders, the Pyramid player who led her into the ambush that got her shot! Listen Starbuck, you're the reason I watch this stupid show. Quit screwing around and get back to the damned battlestar so we can have more witty repartee between you and Apollo and EJO and Tie!

OMG! Starbuck's being treated by Cylons!? Yikes! And they're doing sick fertility experiments to try to reproduce themselves!?

We learn about another one of the 12 Cylon people types (the doctor), so we now know 5, L says. But then Boomer/Sharon saves Starbuck, so does that mean the Cylons can actually be good?

And why is EJO crying over Boomer? Is he cracking, or what?

Ok. so now Starbuck's got the Arrow of Apollo. Anders gave it to her—he saved it special for her. How did he know to do that? Does that mean he is or isn't a Cylon? And why don't they just load everyone onto the heavy raider and jump back to the fleet?

Speaking of which, what is Starbuck going to do when she gets back to the fleet and finds that in order to give the president the arrow she has to join a mutiny against Adama? Big conflict coming down the pike, people! But at least Starbuck is alive and finally getting the heck off Caprica. I'm so tired of the Caprica plotline!

But we can't just get the fleet back together happily and safely, can we? No, of course not. That would just be too conventional or whatever, right? So now 1/3 of the fleet has headed off to Kobol and Starbuck is going to have to go searching for the president against Adama's orders and the only thing good about that is that then, finally, Starbuck and Apollo will be together as part of the “religious” rebellion and we can finally get the Starbuck/Apollo relationship/repartee we've been missing. Plus, I'm sure we'll get some good Adama/Starbuck give and take along the way, and maybe a few jabs with Tie, so really, there's a lot to look forward to here.

So there you go; that's it for this week. If you want to follow the action in more detail, be sure to check out the BSG podcast w/producer Ron Moore. Good stuff. I'm also told the TWOP forums are a great place for all the gos, but I really wouldn't (cough) know.

Posted 11:16 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack | tv land

Can Courts Trust Forensic Science?

Not surprisingly, the answer is: Yes and No. To hear a discussion of the current state of forensic science, check out today's edition of Science Friday. It doesn't look like that show is online as of this writing, but you can subscribe to the podcast and get it automatically once they put it online.

Posted 03:03 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack | crimlaw

Kacey Chappelear Rocks!

Speaking of the interns I worked with over the summer, I also wanted to say thank you to all of them for helping to make the summer great. “Our” office has an excellent internship program, complete with the mock trial exercises I mentioned in the last post, as well as an office softball team and some great parties over the course of the summer. This, as well as the nature of the job, attracts some truly dynamic, entertaining, accomplished, and outgoing people. This summer the office boasted interns from GW (obviously, but I wasn't the only one), Georgetown, American, UVA, and Vermont Law. We also had one outstanding intern from OSU—the inimitable Kacey Chappelear, intern, softball queen, runner, field hockey player, and public interest law leader extraordinaire. Kacey was a joy to work with—smart, witty, and always dressed to the nines, she regularly put the rest of us to shame. She can also play a mean game of beer pong (so long as she's not being Sullied at the time), and is guaranteed to be the life of the party so long as she has plenty of Liquid Gold™. (Oh, and her brother is also a mysterious movie-star who says that “Life is just a bunch of people, living, waiting until they die.” So true.) Thanks for a great summer, KC, and best of luck in Ohio! In other words: Wahoowa!

(Disclaimer: I enjoyed working w/all the interns in our office, but KC was the only one who wanted her name on the blog. Special shout-outs also go to my fellow fervent Harry Potter friend (OMG!) and to JG, the only other 2L in the bunch and the intern with whom I had the pleasure of working closely on a big bad case for about half the summer. Finally, thanks to the Scoplaw, who was truly a pleasure to work with—I only wish we'd had more time to plot our legal revolution!)

Posted 11:13 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | 2L summer

Notes On Closing Arguments

As part of the summer job experience all of the interns in our office participated in a series of mock trial exercises over the summer—all of the interns except me, that is. I'm a slacker; what can I say? But the real deal is that I did it last year and since they were using all the same materials and fact pattern it just seemed a little silly to do it all again. At any rate, the mock trial culminated in the closing arguments which the interns gave in an actual courtroom before a jury comprised of the attorneys in the office. Everyone did a stellar job and I learned a lot by watching them. After each one, the jury critiqued the performance and gave each closer some helpful advice. The following are a few of the tips that were repeated frequently and that I wanted to remember for my own future closing argument preparation.

1. Should you start by thanking the jury? It seems people disagree about this. The jury might be impatient for you to get to the point.
2. Trilogies are effective. For example: “Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you to consider three facts as you head into the deliberation room.” Then go through each fact—one, two, three. It makes your closing more focused, and easy to follow and remember.
3. Don't talk about “cops” to the jury. They're “police” or “law enforcement officers.” Juries aren't usually big on dissing the, um, cops.
4. Don't talk about a “story” unless you're referring too the load of crap the prosecution is selling. You're not telling a story, and your client isn't telling a story; you're both telling the truth. Present your theory as fact and show the jury how the evidence proves that your theory is factual.
5. Don't ask questions or leave conclusions open. Tell the jury what every fact and piece of evidence you mention means and the conclusions they should (logically and unavoidably) draw from them.
6. Make eye contact with every jury member. The more eye contact the better (generally speaking).
7. Emphasize the prosecutor's burden to prove every element of the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
8. Don't say “I think” or “I proffer.” The evidence shows. Consider never using the first-person pronoun in closing.
9. Don't speak in the future tense in the closing about evidence the jury is going to hear. They've heard it; talk about what they heard and saw.
10. In your preparation, think about the unanswered questions from the trial and answer them for the jury in your client's favor. Don't leave holes for the prosecution to drive through on rebuttal. If there's something that's unclear or uncertain, have an explanation for it in closing.
11. Don't use legal jargon like “prejudicial” or “probative.” Use common, everyday language that the jury can relate to.
12. Use the important jury instructions for your case—read and interpret them for the jury so they will know exactly how they should apply those instructions.
13. Don't end by asking for a not-guilty verdict. The evidence demands a not-guilty verdict!

This is obviously not all you need to know about making a good closing argument, but I'll bet if you follow all of the above tips your closings will be much improved.

If you've done a few closings yourself: What tips would you add to this list?

Posted 08:51 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | 2L summer