NCJ Number
125095
Date Published
1988
Length
277 pages
Annotation
This work examines the uses of rhetoric in famous court cases.
Abstract
The nature of the rhetorical processes in each phase of trial is explored using examples from famous cases that include the Haymarket riot trial, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, Sacco-Vanzetti, the Rosenbergs, and the Sam Sheppard case. Each example of rhetoric in the trials is followed by reactions from political scientists, professors, and legal scholars. Press coverage in the Hinkley case is examined followed by storytelling in the opening statement of the Haymarket trial, narrative and direct examination in the Hauptmann trial, reshaping stories of the adversary during cross-examination in the Sacco-Vanzetti Case, participatory persuasion in closing arguments of the Rosenberg trial, advocate argumentation in the Appellate process in the Sheppard case, and the use of courtroom drama in the trial of the Chicago Eight. These examples are meant to illustrate the synthesis of communication and law through proper trial practice. End of book references and index.