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JURY SUMMATION ACCORDING TO THE CODE OF THE WEST
"Summation" or "final argument" is where the trial lawyer puts the whole case together for the jury. It is here that we can both snatch victory from the jaws of defeat or we can defeat ourselves. So, what is final argument? It is a time that we hope to turn an entire courtroom of individuals into a single body of thought that will be carried to an undeniable conclusion. Clearly, it is our final opportunity to persuade each juror to decide the case in our favor.
It is also "communication" and "theater" where we hopefully go from presentation to persuasion. Moreover, summation is the time we want to move from being a writer to being a person. It is a time that we should speak from our hearts, feeling the heart of our client, to the hearts of the individual jurors. For the trial lawyer, this is our chance to enhance and put into proper prospective for the jury the Defendant's personal story and theme we began to telling and developing in voir dire, in our opening statement, in our cross and direct examinations, and that now we will tell again bringing it all to a climax. It is here that we trial lawyers are supposed to animate jurors with the full force of our credibility and move them to action on our client's behalf. We just don't speak to each juror in summation, we communicate back and forth with them. Indeed, it is a time where we must not only share our feelings both by voice and by body language, but also, where we live for the moment and express our passion. Accordingly, this paper expresses thoughts on just how we can deliver both the very best of ourselves and the best final argument.
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