Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | Trial

Hollywood's great lessons in cross-examination: what can movies teach us about trial technique? Many lawyers on the big screen have shown what works - and what doesn't - in the courtroom.

Article Excerpt
Richard Gere tap-dancing his way across a courtroom stage in the Oscar-winning film Chicago displays what master litigators already know. Cross-examination isn't just skill; it's an art form--indeed, an art form that can be choreographed. Artists, musicians, and actors have the luxury of rehearsing their roles on a fixed stage with predictable characters and responses. We cross-examiners, on the other hand, do not share a stage with friendly out-stretched arms or scripted speeches. Instead we face hostile, unwilling participants bent on evasion and disruption.

But despite their carefully written tines and flattering lenses, we can learn much from the courtroom performances that gave life to several great films. The proficiency exhibited in these movies transcends their subject matter and teaches lessons that cut across the lines that typically divide plaintiffs from defendants, or civil from criminal matters. Even though Hollywood's greatest judicial moments often happen in the criminal courtroom, we can apply their lessons to civil actions as well.

Each of the following films is well worth viewing and studying. So without further commercial interruption, let's examine some of the greatest.

Inherit the winded

Long-winded speeches were a trademark of the Bible-thumping, thrice-unsuccessful presidential candidate and Christian fundamentalist William Jennings Bryan. In the infamous "Monkey Trial," Bryan took it upon himself to prosecute high school biology teacher John Scopes for including evolution in his curriculum; that was deemed contrary to the Bible and, therefore, contrary to Tennessee law. The trial, as portrayed in Stanley Kramer's 1960 classic Inherit the Wind, pitted the great defense attorney Clarence Darrow against Bryan. (1)

The arrogant Bryan, who was at times assisted by cocounsel, took the stand as an expert on the Bible, permitting himself to be cross examined by Darrow. This wasn't just good Hollywood; it actually happened. Subject to the court's discretion and stipulation of counsel, an attorney for a party may take the stand to be examined and cross-examined.

Darrow's goal was to show that evolution, or science in general, did not necessarily conflict with biblical doctrine. During the classic cross that follows, Darrow ("Henry Drummond" in the film, played by Spencer Tracy) managed to shake the otherwise unshakable Bryan ("Matthew Harrison Brady" in the film, played by Fredric March) and his intractably dogmatic claim that the unholy "evil-lution" could never be reconciled with biblical teachings.

Drummond: [holding up a divided piece of stone] How old do you think this rock is?

Brady: [sarcastically] I am more interested in the Rock of Ages than I am in the age of rocks.

Drummond: Dr. Page of Oberlin College tells me this rock is at least 10 million years old. (2)

Brady: That rock is not more than 6,000 years old.

Drummond: How do you know?

Brady: A fine biblical scholar; Bishop Usher, has determined for us the exact date and hour of the creation. It occurred in the year 4004 B.C.

Drummond: Ah, well, that's ... Bishop Usher's opinion.

Brady: It's not an opinion. It's a literal fact, which the good bishop arrived at through careful computation of the ages of the prophets as set down in the Old Testament. In fact, he determined that the Lord began creation the 23rd of October, 4004 B.C., at 9 a.m.

Drummond: Was that Eastern Standard Time? ... It wasn't Daylight Savings Time, was it? Because the Lord didn't make the sun until the fourth day?

Brady: That is correct.

Drummond: That first day, what do you think it was? Twenty-four hours long?

Brady: The Bible says it was a day.

Drummond: Well, but there was no sun out. How do you know how long it was?

Brady: The Bible says it was a day!

Drummond: But was it a normal day? A literal day? A 24-hour day?

Brady: I...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!