Why did the jury convict him?
A man is in court for killing his wife. In the closing statements the man’s lawyer surprises everyone when he announces “His wife was just missing. Everyone look at those doors. His wife is going to walk in those doors in about 30 seconds.”The entire court is silent and the jury stares at the door as the lawyer and the defendant stare at them. After a couple of minutes the lawyer says “See! If you were so sure he killed his wife, you wouldn’t be watching that door!”The jury goes into deliberation and comes back almost immediately with a guilty verdict.Why did the jury convict him?
The defendant (guilty man) wasn’t looking at the door. He knew his wife wasn’t coming.
The answer given by ‘silent47’ is surely logical, but…
Consider the scenario where the defendant didn’t kill his wife, but, as a matter of fact, is very much aware that she’s actually dead (might have been killed by somebody else). The lawyer, in a last-ditch effort to save his / her client, attempts to play the ‘doubt factor’ and makes the statement presented in the question. In this scenario, the defendant knows for certain that his wife isn’t coming, and hence won’t look at the door for the ‘dead woman walking’. In this scenario, the jury’s ‘guilty’ verdict would amount to gross miscarriage of justice.
Now, consider another angle: The defendant is actually guilty. The lawyer, aware that any statement (s)he makes in the Court is binding on the defendant, wouldn’t make any statement / claim without having consulted him beforehand. Had the lawyer discussed the ploy (of making the jury doubtful) with the defendant, (s)he would have trained the defendant to play his part in the Court room ‘drama’. (Otherwise, the whole ploy is useless.) In such a scenario, the defendant would have looked at the door as well and the sequence of events presented in the question couldn’t have arisen.
Your Answer
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