“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury”
by Michael Lief
Dwyer Review– by Charles Letherwood
This isn’t a new book by any means… almost 25 years old as we write this. But it came highly recommended and I’ve been digging deep. One of the most fascinating parts was learning about history I’d only vaguely heard of before. If, like me, you’ve only heard “Karen Silkwood” or “Leopold and Loeb”, or worse, never heard of people like Clara Foltz, this book gives a brief sketch of the times and facts of each case along with a bio of the lawyer and commentary.
The single most hypnotizing argument was the one that opened the book, when the US wasn’t dealing with just nazis, but THE Nazis. It was the closing speech of the US prosecutor at the Nuremburg trials, when sitting US Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson had to take time off to go prove… in a court of law… that the Nazi Movement was a conspiracy. The whole idea of the Nuremburg trials was controversial; many Allies including Britain favored summary executions. But the US made the case that the if the Rule of Law was important enough to fight a world war over, if the lack of it was central to the Nazi rise, then it was important enough that even the Nazis should have access to it and that even their twisted defenses should be heard.
“Of one thing we may be sure. The future will never have to ask, with misgiving, what could the Nazis have said in their favor. History will know that whatever could be said, they were allowed to say. They have been given the kind of a trial which they, in the days of their pomp and power, never gave to any man.”
“But fairness is not weakness. The extraordinary fairness of these hearings is an attribute of our strength. The fact is that the testimony of the defendants has removed any doubts of guilt which, because of the extraordinary nature and magnitude of these crimes, may have existed before they spoke. They have helped write their own judgement of condemnation.”
”In summation we now have before us the tested evidence of criminality and have heard the flimsy excuses and paltry evasions of the defendants. The suspended judgement with which we opened this case is no longer appropriate. The time has come for final judgement and if the case I present seems hard and uncompromising, it is because the evidence makes it so.”
If you’ve clicked on this Book Spotlight then you may be particularly interested in Tom’s Tidbits this month, “Donald Trump Isn’t Guilty of Anything”, based on Judge Jackson’s powerhouse closing argument.
Publisher Comments
Until now, only the twelve jurors who sat in judgment were able to appreciate these virtuoso performances, where weeks of testimony were boiled down and presented with flair, wit, and high drama. For five years the authors researched every archive from those of the L.A. Times to the dusty stacks of the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and readers can now lose themselves in the summations of America’s finest litigators.
Clarence Darrow saves Leopold and Loeb from the gallows in the Roaring Twenties. Gerry Spence takes on the nuclear power industry for the death of Karen Silkwood in a modern-day David and Goliath struggle. Vincent Bugliosi squares off against the madness of Charles Manson and his murderous “family” in the aftermath of their bloody spree. Clara Foltz, the first woman to practice law in California, argues passionately to an all-male jury, defending her place in the courtroom. Bobby DeLaughter brings the killer of civil-rights leader Medgar Evers to justice after thirty years and two mistrials. Aubrey Daniel brings Lt. William Calley, Jr., to justice for the My Lai massacre. William Kunstler challenges the establishment after the ’68 Chicago riots in his defense of yippie leaders known as the Chicago Seven.
Each closing argument is put into context by the authors, who provide historical background, a brief biography of each attorney, and commentary, pointing out the trial tactics used to great effect by the lawyers, all in language that is jargon-free for the benefit of the lay reader.
