This week’s topic is persuasion. In the text and lecture, various factors that influence the effectiveness of a persuasive attempt are discussed.

For the discussion board this week, we are going to apply this information to the criminal justice system, particularly trial by jury. (If you are unfamiliar with the process of a jury trial, the link below offers a great summary: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/criminal-trial-procedures-overview-29509.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.)

In your posts, you should identify the specific techniques of persuasion that can be applied to a criminal trial. For example, who would make the most persuasive attorney, defendant, witness, etc? Given what we know about the order of presentation, does the defense or prosecution have the advantage when presenting their evidence? What should lawyers, defendants, and others include in their statements in an effort to increase their persuasiveness?

If you have participated in the trial process in any way, please share your experience as it applies to the discussion. Make sure you log back on during the week to provide feedback to at least two classmate’s posts to keep the discussion going.