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Slipping Away from Justice: the Effect of Attorney Skill on Trial Outcomes

dc.contributor.authorShinall, Jennifer B.
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-11T23:32:04Z
dc.date.available2015-12-11T23:32:04Z
dc.date.issued2010
dc.identifier.citation63 Vanderbilt Law Review 267 (2010)en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1803/7347
dc.descriptionarticle published in law reviewen_US
dc.description.abstractJust how important is a good attorney? Can a skillful attorney actually change the verdict? More importantly, in criminal trials, can a good defense attorney let guilty people go free, or can a good prosecutor send innocent people to jail? Every day, as more highprofile defendants find themselves in court, the anecdotal evidence of this attorney skill effect continues to mount. Yet no one has decisively answered these questions-not only for high-profile defendants, but for the everyday defendant as well. This Note will argue that a skillful defense attorney is not as powerful as popular opinion would lead us to believe. Here, I define skill as the qualities that an attorney brings to the courtroom independent of his case's strength, such as rhetorical abilities, tactical strategies, and knowledge of the law. Regardless of their skill, criminal defense attorneys do not have a statistically significant effect on the verdict or sentencing outcomes. Prosecuting attorneys, on the other hand, can influence trial outcomes. A jury is more likely to convict a defendant when the prosecutor has a high level of skill. Although important for many reasons, Prosecutorial skill is particularly critical since the prosecution has the burden of proof in a criminal trial. This outcome that emphasizes the impact of prosecutorial skill-running so contrary to our everyday beliefssuggests that we have been focusing on the wrong side. Just like Fred Goldman, we are quick to blame the defense attorneys when we think a high-profile defendant has slipped away from justice. For more lowprofile defendants, we are overly preoccupied with the adequacy of, and the disparities in, defense attorneys. Yet we should really be concerned about the disparities in prosecutors. To demonstrate the importance of prosecuting attorney skill, Part II of this Note first considers previous literature from law and other disciplines on the impact of attorney skill. Part III discusses the data set used to conduct this study, and Part IV outlines the model of the attorney skill effect. Part V gives the results of the data analysis and demonstrates the effect of prosecuting attorney skill on trial outcomes-and the lack of effect of defense attorney skill on trial outcomes. Part VI argues that public attention should shift away from defense attorneys and onto prosecutors. If we expect defendants to receive a fair trial, we need to devote more resources to ensuring that prosecutors are well qualified and adequately trained to eliminate the disparities between them. Part VII concludes by relating these results to the attorney skill effect so often discussed in the popular press.en_US
dc.format.extent1 PDF (42 pages)en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherVanderbilt Law Reviewen_US
dc.subjectDefense attorneysen_US
dc.subjectAttorney skillen_US
dc.subjectProsecutorial skillen_US
dc.subjectTrial outcomesen_US
dc.subject.lcshTrialsen_US
dc.subject.lcshTrial practiceen_US
dc.subject.lcshCriminal defense lawyersen_US
dc.subject.lcshPublic prosecutorsen_US
dc.subject.lcshCriminal procedureen_US
dc.subject.lcshJudgments, Criminalen_US
dc.titleSlipping Away from Justice: the Effect of Attorney Skill on Trial Outcomesen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US


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