Ending Courtroom Antics

Gesticulating vehemently, a North Carolina lawyer wound up a case several years ago with a massive sweep of his arm, lost his balance, and tumbled headfirst into the jury box. Another attorney in the state was blind, and after finishing his presentations, used to make his Seeing-Eye dog do cute tricks in order to distract the jury from what opposing lawyers were saying.

Colorful courtroom psychology has been favored by many a U.S. defense lawyer, from Clarence Darrow to Melvin Belli, but this week much of it will end in North Carolina. As part of a broad effort to speed trials and impose uniform standards in the state's 100 counties, the North Carolina Supreme Court has issued a series of new rules governing courtroom decorum. Unless a judge gives special permission, lawyers will no longer be permitted to pace back and forth as they talk but will have to remain seated at their tables while interrogating witnesses. "Abusive language or offensive personal references" are out, and so is trading insulting thrusts and parries with opposing lawyers. As for dress, the new rules, by insisting on "business attire," seek to ban outlandish or distracting fashions.

The new regulations are broad enough to be used punitively by small-minded judges, but they are intended to permit some latitude--of sorts. For example, says William Storey, executive vice president of the state bar association, which helped write the rules: "I don't think wide ties are going to be prohibited."

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