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6 Am. Crim. L. Q. 175 (1967-1968)
The Trial Judge, His Facial Expressions, Gestures and General Demeanor - Their Effect on the Administration of Justice

handle is hein.journals/amcrimlr6 and id is 175 raw text is: THE TRIAL JUDGE, HIS FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, GESTURES AND GENERAL DEMEANOR-THEIR EFFECT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE By LESLIE L. CONNER* I wad some power the giftie gie us, To see ourselves as ithers see us, It wad from many en error free us, And foolish notion. - Robert Burns Introduction Taking refuge behind the language of the Scottish poet, the writer ventures to call attention to one of the most important things that occurs in the trial of lawsuits. More important than the rules of law; more im- portant than many of the facts of a case is the air or atmosphere the trial judge, consciously or unconsciously, creates during the trial of a lawsuit. Although not an expert but a trial lawyer of thirty-nine years' experience, the writer has observed trial courts in action, in his own cases and cases tried by other lawyers. He desires to pass on his observations, hoping they will be of benefit to the bench and bar. There is a story told of St. Francis of Assissi. He asked a novice one day to accompany him down to the city where he was going to preach to the people. The two walked about the streets of the city for several hours in complete silence, and then started back to the monastery. The surprised novice asked him: I thought you were going to preach to the people? St. Francis answered: We were preaching all the time while we were walking by the way we walked, by the way we looked and conducted our- selves, and, without saying a single word, the people got our message. It is the effect of this silent communication between judge and jury on the administration of justice that the writer wishes to discuss. It is not intended to impugn the lack of honesty, integrity or courtroom deportment on the part of any particular trial judge or group of trial * Senior member, Conner, Little & Conner of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. LLB Okla- homa University 1927; former member of Legislature and author of act creating Court of Common Pleas; Author of State Card Digest System Criminal Law in Oklahoma with biblical index. Since You Went Away 1946, complication of the changes by Statute and Decisions in Oklahoma during World War II. Lt. Col. USAF (Ret.). Member of American Bar; Oklahoma Bar; American Judicature Society; Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States; Court of Claims; Interstate Commerce Commission; Court of Military Appeals; United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth, Fifth and Eighth Circuits.

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