UNREASONABLE DOUBT: MANIPULATING JURORS' PERCEPTIONS IN A CLOSING ARGUMENT AT TRIAL

Abstract

This paper seeks to explain the jury's verdict of acquittal in the bizarre case of eccentric millionaire Robert Durst, who was charged with the murder of Morris Black after Black's body parts were found floating in Galveston Bay off the coast of Texas. Though an analysis of a portion of the defense' closing argument, this paper examines the Durst defense team's strategy of directing the jury's attention to a single event - the confrontation that resulted in Black's death - in order to effect a shift in focus that allowed them to use "reasonable doubt" to leverage their argument that the prosecution had not met its burden of proof. This paper demonstrates how this strategy acted to construct the "unreasonable doubt" that resulted in the jury's verdict. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.