Last week I had Jury Duty. Truth be told, I have been wanting to be on a Jury for some time (too many Grisham and Martini novels!). I was fascinated by the total process and am henceforth to be referred to as Juror #10. (just kidding).
The trial was short, just half a day long, so there really wasn’t time to be bored. A total of four witnesses were presented, all by the prosecutor. When the case was handed to us to deliberate, many of my fellow jurors remarked about the performance of the prosecutor and defense attorney. I realized then that talking to a jury is the ultimate form of marketing. Each had to “sell” us 12 jurors on whether a law was, in fact, broken or not.
The defense either did a fantastic job or a very miserable one, depending on how you look at it. He presented no witnesses and no case, just relied on trying to confuse us on some very minor points. Some jurors remarked that he should have found at least ONE witness to present, but I had a different take. My thoughts were that based on what he had to work with, the defense did a remarkable job. I don’t think he could have presented any witnesses without putting a purgeror on the stand. All that remained was to try to confuse us and make a compelling argument.
Boy, did he do that. Many times I found myself ever so slightly swayed by his words. I couldn’t count the number of times that man looked me dead in the eye. More so, I felt, than any other juror.
While he ultimately was not successful, a few jurors were temporarily swayed. You got to hand it to somebody that can sell something they don’t have. He had no case, no witnesses, and no evidence that supported his claims, but by golly, he made a compelling argument for acquittal. That, my friends, is the ultimate form of marketing, and the ultimate marketer!