I have seen jury consultant Robert Hirschhorn lecture several times (and stolen lots of his material for my own cases.) When It was revealed he worked on the Zimmerman case, I immediately understood how the defense overcame the “knock knock” joke in opening statements. Here is an article from USA Today explaining some of the jury selection strategies Hirschhorn used.
SANFORD, Fla. — One of the people instrumental in helping George Zimmerman’s defense team pick an all-female jury says that he decided months in advance that a panel of women brought the best chance for acquittal.
Robert Hirschhorn, a jury consultant with more than 28 years experience, told USA TODAY that women are better listeners, less judgmental, and would more easily understand the fear Zimmerman felt when he shot Trayvon Martin.
“I wanted to make sure we were going to get jurors that would follow what the court of law required not what the court of public opinion wanted,” Hirschhorn said. “My number one goal was to get fair jurors that would really be able to listen to the evidence and decide the case on facts and law not emotion.”
Read the the full article here:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/17/zimmerman-trayvon-martin-jury-consultant-killing-sanford/2530151/