Free It Should Be a Crime by Carsen Taite Page A

other options, she turned her attention to the final pair and hoped against hope they didn’t have another DVD of My Cousin Vinny to offer. I know Dallas is a big city, but seriously, how many copies of the damn movie are still in existence, she wondered.
    Dex took the lead while Parker acted as AV aide to his running commentary. The clip they chose was from A Few Good Men, the scene where Tom Cruise’s Lieutenant Kaffee tangled with Jack Nicholson’s Colonel Jessup. Dex was animated in his presentation of this defense lawyer cross-examination which Morgan found amusing considering his devotion to the prosecutorial side of legal practice.
    “So, what’s your favorite part of this cross-examination?” Morgan directed the question to Dex since he was obviously the lead showman in this particular presentation.
    “I guess it would have to be the part where Jack Nicholson gets into it with Tom Cruise and starts screaming ‘You can’t handle the truth.’ Makes for some great high drama.”
    “Oh, it’s definitely great drama.” Turning to the class, Morgan switched back into lecture mode. “I chose this particular exercise for a reason, and I’m pleased to report the clips each of you chose demonstrated my next point perfectly.” Pausing for effect, she continued, “Drama is for the movies or TV. It’s the result of highly scripted dialogue designed to elicit the maximum punch. It cannot be replicated in the courtroom. Good drama in the courtroom is organic. It comes from all the pieces coming together in a way you cannot plan for because you don’t control all of the elements.
    “What you can do, however, is be prepared. Be prepared with knowledge and skill. When you finish with this class, you will have superior skills you can translate into any situation, in any case. You will be skilled at conducting an efficient and slaying cross-examination. If, at some point in your career, you also get to be a part of some amazing courtroom drama, consider it a bonus.”
    Morgan waited a moment to let her pronouncement sink in. She was aware her words disappointed some in the group who thought the hotshot lawyer was here to teach them how to attain fame and fortune in a few easy steps. Better they figure it out now, she decided. Most trials were fairly boring, and though she’d had more than her fair share of movielike moments in the courtroom, those moments were few in comparison to the hundreds of unexciting but razor-edged cross-examinations that won her cases time and time again.

    *

    Parker was impressed by Morgan’s honesty. She undoubtedly had an arsenal of tales to tell, all casting her in the starring role of winning criminal defense lawyer. However, instead of resorting to replays of The Morgan Bradley Show, she seemed genuinely interested in teaching real skills at the risk of making her accomplishments look achievable to the average lawyer.
    The next hour was in lecture format and Morgan finished by handing out assignments for the next class. Parker glanced over the assignment and realized she and Dex were probably going to need to schedule a regular time to meet in addition to their usual study group meetings. This particular assignment provided a case study, complete with relevant facts and listed witnesses whose cross-examination they were to prepare. They would take the role of witness and lawyer respectively and “perform” their examinations for the rest of the class.
    As the students trickled out of the classroom, Parker hung back, hoping to catch a moment alone with Morgan. Their encounter the day before had been eating away at her, and she sincerely wanted to square things between them. For all her words of bravado, she agreed with Morgan. There was no way they could repeat what happened between them. It wasn’t practical, and she was sorry she’d let her pride get in the way of agreeing when Morgan brought up the issue.
    As she waited, she grew increasingly frustrated at the number of other