Stoneface – Rescue & # 39; s Attorney & # 39; s Rescue | Aftonbladet

The prosecutor wants a defense lawyer who fights with beaks and claws, as in American movies. But lawyers know that they should not give up the aggressiveness of a Swedish court.

The solution: an eyebrow raised, a straight back, a face of stone.

Lisa Flower, a sociology researcher at Lund, participated in more than 50 essays and followed in detail how lawyers show their feelings.

"I do not know if emotions affect the sense of punishment, but they can affect the justice experience of appeals," she told TT.

In the interviews she's conducted, lawyers say that clients expect an aggressive defense, as is often the case in American films.

Want a Rambo

– They expect a lawyer from Rambo, they should be very aggressive. But here they are not the same rules of the game. You should not show the same aggressiveness in a Swedish audience room.

Her research shows that lawyers solve this problem with what she calls a "Rambo-Bambi facade":

– They hide the aggressive Rambo behind a facade slightly softer and less threatening.

Dilemat for the lawyer, it is that some extent of aggression is included in the role. Defense counsel should point out the weaknesses of the prosecutor's reasoning and communicate them so that they achieve their ends. But in a Swedish court, this must be done with subtlety and courtesy.

Drama under the surface

Many of those who participated in a trial in Sweden express their disappointment at the fact that there are so few dramas, says Lisa Flower in her memoir. So, she first felt it herself, but then you just saw the surface, she thinks.

The lawyer can express great emotions by examining his nails, shaking his head and looking up at the ceiling.

In other situations, the challenge of the lawyer is rather not to express feelings at all. It may be that, if new circumstances arise during the trial, for example, a person changes his or her testimony so that the defendant finds himself in a much worse state or the client disappears at a turning point.

– So you must have a stone face, it should not seem that you are surprised or disappointed.

Of the 18 lawyers interviewed, many were particularly interested in whether Lisa Flower thought she had successfully reset the mini-game.

– Most of the time they do it. You can see that the mask is falling, it can be a wink. But it's very rare, because they are very educated to show nothing, she says.

Feelings on the table

Lisa Flower hopes her research will lead to the feelings that are on the table. Not in the courtroom, but some defense lawyers will start talking with their clients before the trial.

"The risk is that the client thinks that" I did not get a fair trial for the lawyer, but I did not do anything "even though the lawyer did exactly that that lawyers should do.

She also thinks that emotions should be discussed during legal education.

"If we can talk more openly about emotions, that's something you obviously have and you can show them, and you too, the stress will be at the beginning of your legal career," says Lisa Flower.

November 3, 2018 11:21