Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review Volume 17 Number 3 Symposium—Using Law and Identity Article 3 to Script Cultural Production 3-1-1997 A Time to Kill, the O.J. Simpson Trials, and Storytelling to Juries Leonard M. Baynes Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/elr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Leonard M. Baynes, A Time to Kill, the O.J. Simpson Trials, and Storytelling to Juries, 17 Loy. L.A. Ent. L. Rev. 549 (1997). Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/elr/vol17/iss3/3 This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. A TIME TO KILL, THE O.J. SIMPSON TRIALS, AND STORYTELLING TO JURIES Leonard M Baynes* It's different with me. I could probably get off... I'm white, and this is a white country. With a little luck I could get an all- whitejury, which will naturally be sympathetic. This is not New York or California.' 1. INTRODUCTION In presenting a case to a jury, a lawyer needs to think about linking all the evidence together to present a credible story that the jury will believe. In representing African American2 male defendants, storytelling becomes even more crucial; juries are more likely to convict (and more severely punish) African American men for killing White people than for killing other Blacks.3 African Americans are more likely than Whites to be shot at by police, eighteen times more likely to be wounded, and five times more likely to be killed.4 Prosecutors are more likely to pursue full * Leonard M.