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37 UCLA L. Rev. 273 (1989-1990)
Issue 2

handle is hein.journals/uclalr37 and id is 287 raw text is: ARTICLES TRIAL BY SCHEMA: COGNITIVE FILTERS IN THE COURTROOM Albert J. Moore* INTRODUCTION For the past few years in my trial advocacy class I have asked my students to play the role of jurors in a mock civil trial. The case involves a woman who is struck by a truck while crossing the street. The students must determine if the defendant, the driver of the truck, was negligent. The crucial factual issue in 'the case is whether the woman was in the crosswalk when she was struck. The students are shown a fifty-minute videotape of the trial. Then, with- out deliberating or consulting with his classmates, each student-ju- ror renders a written verdict and an explanation of the reasoning behind his decision. The most consistent and surprising result is that the students seem to ignore much of the evidence in the case when reaching their verdicts. At trial, for example, one witness testifies that after the defendant's truck struck the woman, he got out of his truck and said, Oh my God, I didn't see you in the crosswalk. During his testimony the defendant never denies making this statement. Since this testimony clearly creates a problem for the defendant, one would expect that all jurors would have to consider its relevance * Acting Professor of Law, University of California, Los Angeles. B.A. 1975, University of Massachusetts; J.D. 1978, University of California, Los Angeles. I would like to thank all those who commented on prior drafts of this Article, especially Nor- man Abrams, Peter Arenella, Paul Bergman, David Binder, Susan Gillig, Carol Goldberg-Ambrose, Robert Goldstein, Sherrill Johnson, Carrio Menkel-Meadow, and Susan Prager. And special thanks to Graham Strong for all the arguments and insights over the past four years.

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