Whether you are thinking of becoming a lawyer yourself or if you are just curious about how things like this work, you can’t deny that the work a Boston criminal defense attorney does is quite fascinating. Part of this work involves convincing a jury that one thing is right and another thing is wrong, and most people assume that a strategy is developed and then implemented in the best way possible with the lawyer choosing to stick to the strategy above anything else that they might have done.
This is actually not all that true. In truth, lawyers are constantly changing their strategy to adapt to newer developments in the case. Part of this involves paying attention to how a jury feels about something or the other. Juries can be very fickle indeed, and if you say something wrong they would be very quick to turn against you. A defense lawyer can practice as much as they want, but the things they say can often mean something very different to a juror based on background and context, and trying to prevent misunderstandings is key.
Hence, a lot of lawyers tend to make educated guesses about what juries might be thinking. A big part of this involves monitoring their body language. If a juror is angry, their body might tense up. If this anger is righteous then they might raise their chin and straighten their back. If they do this but still tense up, their eyes can tell you if they are afraid or simply venomous. Monitoring body language is crucial to ascertain how jurors feel and this can impact how you might want to proceed in your own criminal defense.