OK, one more addition to MY list of frustrations!! What's with the "Easel" All this expert testimony, books, papers, pictures, CD's, etc. and JB brings out his "Easel" and colored markers and scribbles NONSENSE!!
This is why I think that JB using the easel. First look over at the table at the evidence that the state has. It's a lot, agree?! Now look over at JB's table. All they have is ICA. The easel is to give the appearance that they have something. It's called smoke and mirrors. The problem for JB is that he'd not a good magician. But he makes a pretty good clown. "Smiles as I think, Pee-Wee Herman.
The use of visual aids is classic "Attorney 101". All people, no matter how stupid, remember information better if it's first described, then presented a second time in a visual form. The reason why teachers spend so much time writing on the chalkboard is that it's proven that students will remember things better if it's explained, then written down, and then explained again. So far, so good---one would think that Jose is on the right track considering that these are well-known memory-training techniques. Of course, if you remember your own schooling, you might recall how much you giggled and started acting up when the teacher accidentally misspelled something on the board, like that day in 3rd grade when Missus Rainey left the "R" out of the word "shirt"...
The problem, of course, is that Jose Baez is incompetent in nearly everything he does.
He doesn't understand how a computer works, so he can't use that in his arguments. That's why the State uses the projector and publishes digital documents to the jury, while Jose has to stand across the room from the jury and hold up a poster that's an enlarged copy of a photo that the State already published.
It gets even worse than that, though. In his opening statement, Baez attempted to use a standard dry-erase whiteboard (which are used in junior colleges everywhere in place of chalkboards these days, and have replaced the far-more expensive paper easel in Corporate America almost completely) and he failed miserably at it. Dry erase white boards use a cleaning fluid (usually isopropyl alcohol and fragrance) in order to prevent buildup on the board that can obscure the text. However, anyone who's ever used one before knows that you use the cleaner infrequently, not every time you erase something. For a short period of time after cleaning a white-board with the cleaning fluid, you have to
wait for it to dry before you can continue writing on it, or the ink won't stick to the board. Jose
hosed the board down with cleaning fluid after each erasure. He went through
several pens and even said that one of the pens was out of ink before he finally gave up. The pen was not out of ink---shocker of the century,
the dry-erase board was WET. This, of course, was the last time we saw the dry-erase board and supplies, which likely cost the state well over $100. They're only cheap when it keeps you from going through several of those $60 paper easels. Maybe one of the other attorneys will use it...OH, WAIT, NONE OF THE OTHER ATTORNEYS IS ALLOWED TO CROSS-EXAMINE ANYBODY except for Cheney Mason, and he's an old guy who probably doesn't "get" how dry-erase boards work either. Sorry Florida Taxpayers :sigh:
It's so incredibly unprofessional to not even
try out things like the dry-erase board before opening statements. One of the rules in "Attorney 101" is to MAKE SURE YOUR VISUAL AIDS WORK. Check your slide projector, make sure the slides aren't upside down or from your vacation to Hawaii last year, make sure you have ALL of the photos you need instead of just the first one lying on top of a random stack of papers and fast food menus, and MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW TO USE THE COMPUTERS AND THE WHITE BOARD BEFORE THE TRIAL STARTS.
