Research & Publications

“Attorney Trial Advantage: Jury Consultants Using Handwriting in and out of the Courtroom”

By Ruth Holmes, CDE, with collaboration & graphic accompaniments by Associate Sarah Holmes, as appeared in Ohio Trial magazine, Spring 1999

The most common use of handwriting examiners in the legal system is authenticating signatures and determining the identity of writers in cases of forgeries, fraud, embezzlement and anonymous letters.

Well known cases such as the Lindbergh kidnapping, the Hitler diaries, the Howard Hughes' Will, the war trial in Israel of the Cleveland autoworker thought to be Ivan the Terrible, the authorship of Primary Colors, the ransom note for murdered child JonBenet Ramsey and the forged checks in the Michigan abduction of Dr. Deborah Iverson have all involved the examination of handwriting. Such document investigations are familiar to attorneys and law enforcement agencies. The handwriting experts called in these cases focus on authenticity and writer identity.

In the last two decades another classification of handwriting examiners has emerged in the courtrooms. Working closely with attorneys as Jury & Trial Consultants, these unique analysts are skilled in interpreting handwriting and other forms of expressive behaviors in order to determine the personality characteristics of an individuals in a legal environment. Personality profiles of perspective jurors and other courtroom players are prepared as part of the pre-trial and jury selection process.

Jury and trial observation are made from patterns of expressive behavior which are communicated to the consultants visually, verbally, physically, linguistically and graphically through handwriting samples obtained in focus groups, mock trials and in actual courtroom settings.

Jury consultants played significant roles in the recent trials of O.J. Simpson, Rodney King and the Menendez brothers. Most jury consultants have had experience with people in some aspect of the social sciences such as sociology or psychology, marketing or negotiating, linguistics or private investigating. Relatively few consultants have the additional expertise in handwriting examination.

Attorneys clearly know the law. Jury or trial consultants know people and they use their various skills to discern whatever is possible which will benefit the attorneys and clients they represent. It appears that whatever specialists are chosen to provide an outside perspective to attorneys during a trial that understanding the jury, lawyers, witnesses, experts and other players in the judicial forum is now an essential part to gaining the winning edge in today's legal arena.

As specialists in written, verbal and non-verbal communications, trained handwriting examiners are able to help an attorney maximize the advantage of pre-trial and courtroom insight. There is value to allowing a consultant to become familiar with a case long before a jury is selected.

With sufficient time, attorneys can be assisted in many ways by jury consultants who can assist by reading mediation summaries or opening arguments. Suggestions can be made for the preparation of jury graphics that highlight major points and make them more comprehensible to a jury.

People (perspective jurors), express themselves with their body language, gestures, words and through the written communications provided on the questionnaires in court and in the focus groups or mock trials. Some jurors are auditory and others are visual. Some respond to information which effects feelings; others want just the facts.

Jury consultants using handwriting assessment can usually recognize the differences between right and left brain thinking styles pointing out the best way to communicate with individual jurors. Metaphors, pictures and story-lines appeal to more right brained, intuitive, creative jurors. Facts, figures and time-lines appeal to more left-brained, analytical, problem solving jurors.

Long before a case reaches the courtroom, a jury consultant can contribute valuable information to an attorney by helping them establish an ideal juror profile and fine tuning the presentation of a case through a focus group or mock trial. The potential benefit for attorneys and their clients to gather information to assist them in their cases is invaluable and limited only their imagination and resources.

The role of a jury consultant with handwriting expertise can be simply the evaluation of the questionnaires before and during the jury selection process. With assistance the consultant may also oversee the coordination and facilitation of a focus group or mock jury project where additional writing samples are obtained and compared to the comments during juror deliberations and debriefings.

Handwriting evaluations focus directly on the jurors as ordinary people. Wouldn't it be helpful to identify the leaders, followers and wild cards in advance. Who is conservative and who is liberal? Who is generous and who is thrifty? How do they think and react to lawyers, clients, witnesses and evidence?

Preparing for a focus group can include but are not limited to: 1) recruiting the mock jurors who are demographically appropriate to a case; 2) selecting a site with appropriate audio-visual capabilities to record attorney presentations and mock juror deliberations for future review; 3) facilitating the mock trial; 4) preparing voir dire questions; 5) assessing opening statements and closing arguments; 6) designing jury graphics to clarify significant points: and 7) ultimately creating the ideal juror profile by evaluating the writing and content of materials collected during the mock jury trial.

If requested, the jury consultant will also prepare a final written report, which summarized information gathered during the focus group or mock jury trial. Whenever possible, handwritten communications are incorporated into this report which presents the case overview, portraits of the clients, themes for the trial, defense and plaintiff highlight both pro and con, suggestions for exhibits, language for the jury and most important of all the ideal juror profile.

The increase in the number of Jury & Trial Consultants attests to the need for knowledge beyond the law books. An outside perspective does not guarantee the outcome of a trial; however, being prepared in the best possible way in and out of the courtroom using handwriting expertise can be an immeasurable tool toward success for attorneys on either side creative enough to see the advantages. Not all the preparation in the world will make a difference to a jury if attorneys do not know how to reach them.

Pentec, Inc. is experienced to assist attorneys in the areas of juror profiling, jury selection, voir dire, mock trials, questionnaires, opening/closing statements and, as requested, the ongoing assessments of courtroom players. Legal advantage in today's courtroom environment is enhanced with useful information and unrivaled knowledge.