February 11, 2008
Visualizing guilt
Homicide prosecutor turned technology whiz uses litigation support software to
persuade jurors and take down the bad guys
Visualizing guilt
Homicide prosecutor turned technology whiz uses litigation support software to
persuade jurors and take down the bad guys
Litigation
By Natalie Lombardo
How do you convince a jury that a career criminal is a credible witness?
You bring in courtroom-technology guru Patrick M. Muscat, an assistant prosecutor
in the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
In a decades-old murder case against Richard Lawson, Richard Mudica was an
important prosecution witness.
When Mudica was a teenager, he had witnessed Lawson shoot and kill his former
boss in Livonia during a cross-country crime spree.
Mudica came to the prosecution's attention when a letter he had written, in which he
"confessed" to having participated in the crime, surfaced.
The challenge for the prosecution was overcoming Mudica's own sordid history.
The prosecution's potential witness was serving a prison sentence that could last the
rest of his life, and he had been less than a model prisoner.
As an alleged prison gang member, Mudica had participated in a vicious attack on a
guard, and had even tried to escape.
Indeed, when it came to making Mudica into a believable, credible witness, assistant
prosecutor Muscat had his work cut out for him.
But the guilty verdict that came back against Lawson showed Muscat was up for the
challenge.
"Using the technology Muscat had, we were able to scan in Mudica's drawings of the
crime scene and the actual photos ... and juxtapose them to show they were
corroborated," said Robert A. Moran, director of the Wayne County homicide unit,
who was head prosecutor in the 2006 trial. "That was very persuasive for the jury."
Muscat hears this a lot.
That's because he's the only attorney in his office who uses litigation support
software, document cameras, projectors, monitors and a laptop in every aspect of all
of his cases.
When asked about the success of his approach during his 15-year career, Muscat
attributed his 95 percent conviction rate in more than 60 homicide jury trials to
"blending the art of advocacy with courtroom technology."
By Natalie Lombardo
How do you convince a jury that a career criminal is a credible witness?
You bring in courtroom-technology guru Patrick M. Muscat, an assistant prosecutor
in the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
In a decades-old murder case against Richard Lawson, Richard Mudica was an
important prosecution witness.
When Mudica was a teenager, he had witnessed Lawson shoot and kill his former
boss in Livonia during a cross-country crime spree.
Mudica came to the prosecution's attention when a letter he had written, in which he
"confessed" to having participated in the crime, surfaced.
The challenge for the prosecution was overcoming Mudica's own sordid history.
The prosecution's potential witness was serving a prison sentence that could last the
rest of his life, and he had been less than a model prisoner.
As an alleged prison gang member, Mudica had participated in a vicious attack on a
guard, and had even tried to escape.
Indeed, when it came to making Mudica into a believable, credible witness, assistant
prosecutor Muscat had his work cut out for him.
But the guilty verdict that came back against Lawson showed Muscat was up for the
challenge.
"Using the technology Muscat had, we were able to scan in Mudica's drawings of the
crime scene and the actual photos ... and juxtapose them to show they were
corroborated," said Robert A. Moran, director of the Wayne County homicide unit,
who was head prosecutor in the 2006 trial. "That was very persuasive for the jury."
Muscat hears this a lot.
That's because he's the only attorney in his office who uses litigation support
software, document cameras, projectors, monitors and a laptop in every aspect of all
of his cases.
When asked about the success of his approach during his 15-year career, Muscat
attributed his 95 percent conviction rate in more than 60 homicide jury trials to
"blending the art of advocacy with courtroom technology."
Passing it on
Muscat is self-taught, and talented
enough to be warranted an expert.
He teaches litigation technology and
advanced trial practice at the
University of Detroit Mercy School of
Law and Thomas M. Cooley Law
School, respectively. He also lectures
and trains attorneys and law
enforcement professionals across the
country.
"I tell my students, 'If you don't know
how to do this stuff in 10 years, you're
going to be like the guy now who
doesn't know how to do e-mail,'"
Muscat said, noting that federal courts
and new courts are now fashioned to
accommodate the technology. "This
will never replace old-fashioned
advocacy, but one should be smart
enough to know that as the times
change, so do your skills."
During the first half of the semester,
Muscat teaches his students how to
use PowerPoint persuasively. Then,
they're required to present an opening
statement and closing argument in a
mock courtroom.
In the second half, the students learn
Sanction, which is software that
organizes files and presents images,
audio, text, documents, and video.
At the end of the year, they conduct a
mock trial, utilizing both programs.
"These students will be higher up on
the food chain than students who
haven't taken my class," Muscat said.
Ashley Coneff, a third-year student at
the University of Detroit Mercy School
of Law, is already using the approach
in practice.
She's an intern for the Wayne County
Prosecutor's Office and, under the
supervision of a senior attorney, she
presents digital evidence in child- and
elder-abuse trials.
"It's been my most helpful law school
class so far, something I can actually
take and use in the career I've
chosen," Coneff said.
She mentioned an upcoming trial
regarding the unarmed robbery of an
elderly person, where she planned to
play an audio confession while
displaying the words onto a projector,
and simultaneously zooming in on
related photos and maps.
"From what I've seen, it just
captivates the juries' attention,"
Coneff said, "which is important
because if they're falling asleep,
they're not hearing those important
details that are critical to the case."
For more information about Wayne County
Assistant Prosecutor Patrick M. Muscat's
savvy approach to courtroom technology, visit
his website at http://www.thevisualtrial.com
________________________________________
Michigan Lawyers Weekly, 31440
Northwestern Hwy, Suite 170, Farmington
Hills, MI 48334 (800) 678-5297
© 2008 Lawyers Weekly Inc., All Rights
Reserved.
Muscat is self-taught, and talented
enough to be warranted an expert.
He teaches litigation technology and
advanced trial practice at the
University of Detroit Mercy School of
Law and Thomas M. Cooley Law
School, respectively. He also lectures
and trains attorneys and law
enforcement professionals across the
country.
"I tell my students, 'If you don't know
how to do this stuff in 10 years, you're
going to be like the guy now who
doesn't know how to do e-mail,'"
Muscat said, noting that federal courts
and new courts are now fashioned to
accommodate the technology. "This
will never replace old-fashioned
advocacy, but one should be smart
enough to know that as the times
change, so do your skills."
During the first half of the semester,
Muscat teaches his students how to
use PowerPoint persuasively. Then,
they're required to present an opening
statement and closing argument in a
mock courtroom.
In the second half, the students learn
Sanction, which is software that
organizes files and presents images,
audio, text, documents, and video.
At the end of the year, they conduct a
mock trial, utilizing both programs.
"These students will be higher up on
the food chain than students who
haven't taken my class," Muscat said.
Ashley Coneff, a third-year student at
the University of Detroit Mercy School
of Law, is already using the approach
in practice.
She's an intern for the Wayne County
Prosecutor's Office and, under the
supervision of a senior attorney, she
presents digital evidence in child- and
elder-abuse trials.
"It's been my most helpful law school
class so far, something I can actually
take and use in the career I've
chosen," Coneff said.
She mentioned an upcoming trial
regarding the unarmed robbery of an
elderly person, where she planned to
play an audio confession while
displaying the words onto a projector,
and simultaneously zooming in on
related photos and maps.
"From what I've seen, it just
captivates the juries' attention,"
Coneff said, "which is important
because if they're falling asleep,
they're not hearing those important
details that are critical to the case."
For more information about Wayne County
Assistant Prosecutor Patrick M. Muscat's
savvy approach to courtroom technology, visit
his website at http://www.thevisualtrial.com
________________________________________
Michigan Lawyers Weekly, 31440
Northwestern Hwy, Suite 170, Farmington
Hills, MI 48334 (800) 678-5297
© 2008 Lawyers Weekly Inc., All Rights
Reserved.
Modern advocacy
Utilizing courtroom technology is a growing trend
across the nation.
Muscat says it's changing the way cases are tried,
especially in light of the "CSI effect" and broad
advances in technological culture.
"My impression of the 'CSI effect' is not just that
jurors expect scientific evidence in everything, but
they also expect things to be presented to them in
a flashy format that they see on television," he
said. "If I can present the evidence in an
entertaining, yet professional format that keeps
them interested like they're watching television,
it's addressing the phenomenon."
Take the Lawson case.
Using a PowerPoint presentation and other
litigation support software, Muscat brought
Mudica's vivid memory of the murder to life by
cleverly merging testimony, diagrams, maps and
photos in an active, comprehensive and
understandable format.
For example, when the prosecution introduced
photographic evidence of police recovering the
murder weapon from a pond near Atlantic City,
N.J., Muscat presented slides showing the map
Mudica had sketched.
And, when a photo of the victim's lifeless body was
shown to the jury, the prosecutor revealed
Mudica's detailed drawings of the crime scene.
"You can describe that, but with a witness who
has such credibility issues, it's important to show
the jury," Muscat said.
But it's also important to remember that
technology alone doesn't guarantee a victory, he
said.
"It must be used to enhance the persuasive
presentation," Muscat said.
Third Circuit Court Judge Timothy M. Kenny
agrees.
Having spent 20 years as a prosecutor before
ascending to the bench 11 years ago, Kenny said
he's very familiar with the "traditional" methods of
presenting evidence, such as flipcharts,
chalkboards, enlarged photographs and diagrams,
and passing photos.
But Kenny told Michigan Lawyers Weekly that
PowerPoint "can be a very powerful advocacy tool"
because it presents material clearly and holds
jurors' attention.
"The reality is that jurors in their everyday lives
receive and process information visually as well as
through their hearing, whether it's watching the
news, going through training at work or attending
school," Kenny said. "Muscat has utilized the same
approach in presenting his cases and does it very
effectively."
Utilizing courtroom technology is a growing trend
across the nation.
Muscat says it's changing the way cases are tried,
especially in light of the "CSI effect" and broad
advances in technological culture.
"My impression of the 'CSI effect' is not just that
jurors expect scientific evidence in everything, but
they also expect things to be presented to them in
a flashy format that they see on television," he
said. "If I can present the evidence in an
entertaining, yet professional format that keeps
them interested like they're watching television,
it's addressing the phenomenon."
Take the Lawson case.
Using a PowerPoint presentation and other
litigation support software, Muscat brought
Mudica's vivid memory of the murder to life by
cleverly merging testimony, diagrams, maps and
photos in an active, comprehensive and
understandable format.
For example, when the prosecution introduced
photographic evidence of police recovering the
murder weapon from a pond near Atlantic City,
N.J., Muscat presented slides showing the map
Mudica had sketched.
And, when a photo of the victim's lifeless body was
shown to the jury, the prosecutor revealed
Mudica's detailed drawings of the crime scene.
"You can describe that, but with a witness who
has such credibility issues, it's important to show
the jury," Muscat said.
But it's also important to remember that
technology alone doesn't guarantee a victory, he
said.
"It must be used to enhance the persuasive
presentation," Muscat said.
Third Circuit Court Judge Timothy M. Kenny
agrees.
Having spent 20 years as a prosecutor before
ascending to the bench 11 years ago, Kenny said
he's very familiar with the "traditional" methods of
presenting evidence, such as flipcharts,
chalkboards, enlarged photographs and diagrams,
and passing photos.
But Kenny told Michigan Lawyers Weekly that
PowerPoint "can be a very powerful advocacy tool"
because it presents material clearly and holds
jurors' attention.
"The reality is that jurors in their everyday lives
receive and process information visually as well as
through their hearing, whether it's watching the
news, going through training at work or attending
school," Kenny said. "Muscat has utilized the same
approach in presenting his cases and does it very
effectively."
Personal Note by
Patrick Muscat
APA Rob Moran was
the lead attorney on the
Lawson case.
APA Lisa Lindsey was
the lead attorney on the
Cheli's case.
They both brought me
in to assist with their
trials because of
unique issues dealing
with courtroom
technology.
All the credit goes to
them for earning these
convictions.
This article is
displayed on this
website with
permission of Michigan
Lawyers Weekly.
Patrick Muscat
APA Rob Moran was
the lead attorney on the
Lawson case.
APA Lisa Lindsey was
the lead attorney on the
Cheli's case.
They both brought me
in to assist with their
trials because of
unique issues dealing
with courtroom
technology.
All the credit goes to
them for earning these
convictions.
This article is
displayed on this
website with
permission of Michigan
Lawyers Weekly.
