Thursday is not a day that one usually begins a felony Medicaid Fraud trial, but that is where I find myself today. Trying to beat the long weekend, we got it going today in hopes of getting to the jury by next Tuesday. I thought a lot today about Gerry Spence’s advice in his latest book that we “embrace” our fears about the case during voir dire. Tell the jury about what scares you. Then get them to talk about the issue and see if they have the same fears or prejudice. In my case it is my client’s ethnicity – she is Iranian. I shared with the jury my concern that I may have prejudged Iranians in an unfavorable way and I wondered, out loud, if any of them shared similar thoughts. Could they give my client a fair trial? The answer really would depend, in part at least, on whether they could get past their own prejudice. And Gerry – it worked. They spoke. We talked about the hostages, and the Shah, and all things Persian. Then a little mouse of a voice reminded us that my client was an American citizen, just like we are. “She’s just like us.” And heads bobbed, and affirmations echoed and we were over the “she’s one of them” stuff. Spence says this stuff works for “ham & eggers” like me, and perhaps, you. Maybe it does. Will let you know how this trial works out. And if you want to learn more and win your next case, well, you know the book to buy! Win Your Case.
