# There's no crying in the courtroom! He's crying, sir. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 25, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163 "2008-06-25T03:25:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/21 "2008-06-26T00:39:59Z")
I just wish GWB hadn’t been such a big softie when Scooter’s lawyer turned on the waterworks. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/22 "2008-06-26T04:48:23Z")
I think that the proposed order is completely unenforceable. There’s no way to prove that the tears are faked, or simply turned on for effect. As others have said - if the case before the jury is such that the idea of someone crying over the death of the convicted murderer is enough to sway their vote for the death penalty, then maybe it’s not that strong a case. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/23 "2008-06-27T14:31:10Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] The argument could then be made that murder is so horrific that people should cry at the thought of it, including the prosecutors and cops. It’s hard to conceive of banning all displays of emotion in situations like these, but if lawyers are putting on a show of tears “on cue” as a manipulative device, it’s reasonable to ask that they put a sock in it. [/QUOTE] Seconded. Judges routinely limit what a jury may see or hear, and often provide strict guidance as to what victims’ families may do or say when addressing the jury. If, as the article suggests, particular lawyers were routinely and cynically crying at just the right moment in court, I as a judge would entertain such a motion. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/24 "2008-06-27T14:59:27Z")
I don’t see crying as any different from other attorney courtroom acting. When I was on a jury for a sexual assault case, both attorneys were literally shaking with rage in their vehemence as they delivered opening statements. It was clearly an act. Should this be outlawed, too? Do we just have the arguments read aloud by computers? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/25 "2008-06-27T15:13:46Z")
[QUOTE=toadspittle] I don’t see crying as any different from other attorney courtroom acting. When I was on a jury for a sexual assault case, both attorneys were literally shaking with rage in their vehemence as they delivered opening statements. It was clearly an act. Should this be outlawed, too? Do we just have the arguments read aloud by computers? [/QUOTE] Only if they use the same voice synthesizer/talk box as the one Peter Frampton uses in “_Do you feel like we do?_”. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/26 "2008-06-27T15:16:44Z")
[QUOTE=toadspittle] I don’t see crying as any different from other attorney courtroom acting. When I was on a jury for a sexual assault case, both attorneys were literally shaking with rage in their vehemence as they delivered opening statements. It was clearly an act. Should this be outlawed, too? Do we just have the arguments read aloud by computers? [/QUOTE] That sort of behavior is why I’m glad I took to heart the judges admonition that “anything the attorney says is not evidence”. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/27 "2008-06-27T15:39:48Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] That sort of behavior is why I’m glad I took to heart the judges admonition that “anything the attorney says is not evidence”. [/QUOTE] I was struck by how much the trial really WAS like trials on TV dramas. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/28 "2008-06-27T15:43:33Z")
[QUOTE=toadspittle] I was struck by how much the trial really WAS like trials on TV dramas. [/QUOTE] Except for being longer and lots of boring parts the shows cut out. 🙂 (Mine was 3 weeks of testimony…the worst was the video depositions) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/29 "2008-06-27T15:47:54Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] Only if they use the same voice synthesizer/talk box as the one Peter Frampton uses in “_Do you feel like we do?_”. [/QUOTE] Seconded. “Counselor, we don’t want the 14-minute extended jam version. Take 8 bars to finish and move on.” The OJ trial left me really disappointed. Prosecuters seemed to be winging it, like they hadn’t considered how to phrase their questions beforehand. If courtroom dramas on TV were like that, I don’t think anybody would watch. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/30 "2008-06-27T16:15:16Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] Only if they use the same voice synthesizer/talk box as the one Peter Frampton uses in “_Do you feel like we do?_”. [/QUOTE] Heh. Sometimes it happens that a witness that previously testified in a matter is unavailable to testify again – they refuse to testify, they’re dead, whatever. And sometimes in those circumstances their previous testimony may be read into the record of the current trial. This is often done by the court reporter or the clerk, who reads it in a near monotone. It’s kind of macabre, when the subject is something that obviously was upsetting the first time 'round… when the clerk finishes, deadpan, with “…whereupon a recess was called to permit the witness to compose herself…” ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/31 "2008-06-27T16:32:59Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] Heh. Sometimes it happens that a witness that previously testified in a matter is unavailable to testify again – they refuse to testify, they’re dead, whatever. And sometimes in those circumstances their previous testimony may be read into the record of the current trial. This is often done by the court reporter or the clerk, who reads it in a near monotone. It’s kind of macabre, when the subject is something that obviously was upsetting the first time 'round… when the clerk finishes, deadpan, with “…whereupon a recess was called to permit the witness to compose herself…” [/QUOTE] Does the court recorder actually type: **Witness:** _sobs uncontrollably_ or **Witness:** _answer unintelligible due to blubbering_? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163/32 "2008-06-27T17:45:51Z")
Not that I’ve ever seen. But a lawyer eager to make a record on appeal may say something like, “Your Honor, obviously my client is distraught. She’s been sobbing off and on for almost half an hour. May we have a brief recess?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-crying-in-the-courtroom-hes-crying-sir/454163.md?page=1)