Jury settles in for months of testimony

‘It’s three weeks down and many more to go for jurors in the Michael Jackson child-molestation trial.

Already they’ve heard opening statements and testimony from more than a dozen witnesses, and they likely will hear much more before reaching the deliberation room. Opening statements in the case began Feb. 28 after a month of jury selection, and the trial may carry on into summer.

So how do attorneys keep jurors’ interest and win their sympathy in a months-long trial?

Brevity can be a virtue for attorneys, said longtime local criminal lawyer Steve Balash, who is not working on the Jackson case.

“I think it’s a good idea to be brief and to the point,” Balash said. “If that witness keeps saying the same thing over and over again, you’re just beating the (information) into a juror’s head.”

However, Balash said that this concern must be balanced against providing a complete record of the case, and by engaging in thorough cross-examination.’

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