Misdirection: Follow the Little Red Ball--Where Did It Go?

I came across a little clip demonstrating one of the principles of magic--misdirection--and I think it also demonstrates one of the principles of lawyering--persuasion. That is--listen to my story, not opposing counsel's, and follow me down this path, not that one. Let's think about the difference between magical misdirection and lawyering persuasion.

There's a story/anecdote/joke? about reasonable doubt that makes the rounds every so often. The defense lawyer gets up in front of the jury and tells it that he is so certain that his client didn't commit the murder of which he is charged that RIGHT NOW! the victim is going to walk through THOSE DOORS! Of course the jurors, like everybody else, look toward the doors, expecting to see the victim. When they do, no one walks through the doors. "But," the lawyer says, "since you, the members of the jury, did look toward the doors of the courtroom, you are not convinced of my client's guilt. Therefore, you have reasonable doubt. You must acquit my client." It's sort of an early "if the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit" story. (Sometimes this goes awry, if the client doesn't turn and look as well). I don't know any lawyer who has actually tried this gambit. It's a very Ben Matlock/Perry Mason sort of thing, right out of popular culture lore. In fact, some tv shows have actually used this idea as a plot twist either 1) to catch the guilty client or 2) to catch the guilty party who isn't on trial by showing that that person DIDN'T turn around in the expectation that the victim would enter the courtroom.

Anyway, the little clip I'm talking about is video from LiveScience.com, which shows the power both of misdirection and of persuasion ("groupthink"). The magician in the clip entices the viewer into following the ball's motion by looking up as he throws the ball. The third time, of course, he doesn't throw the ball. He palms it (I think...) Watch closely (you do have to sit through a little "commercial" for PBS. Click on the pause/play button at the left of the screen to activate the video). An interesting little clip, and one that  shows in miniature the dangers of believing everything we see. Eyewitness testimony isn't everything it's cracked up to be, but we knew that, didn't we?

For more lawyer jokes and some discussion of their deeper meaning, see Marc Galanter, Lowering the Bar: Lawyer Jokes and Legal Culture (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2005)(paperback edition 2006).

Comments

[michael webster]

I have seen that trick down before, but it is always impressive. "Reviewing" your memory appears to reveal that the ball was thrown. It is amazing how little we need to pay attention to the world.