Miami Judges Larry Turner and Stan Morris, Chief Judge Emerson Thompson and Miami attorney Michael Band led discussions regarding proper closing arguments in criminal cases during a criminal law seminar last week at the Duval County Courthouse.
“Lawyers get carried away,” said Thompson before the session. “They use flowery language, emotional appeals or threaten the jury with arguments that are not based on fact and record. A judge’s role is not to provide an arena for gladiators, so the Supreme Court developed a professional approach to practice and advocate within the bar. The Inns of Court developed to discuss problems of the bench and bar. Most important is that the defendant gets a fair trial.”
The seminar’s purpose is to educate lawyers on what is appropriate in court. It is being presented at various locations around the state. Twelve problems with eight arguments were demonstrated by volunteers to be critiqued and debated by the audience. All were appellate cases.
“We’re not doing this because we think there is a problem in this circuit,” said Judge Mike Weatherby, who was the moderator. “We’re here because this is a good educational opportunity to teach why these laws exist.”
“It’s not designed to teach people how to get around the system,” added attorney Hank Coxe.