Cal Cunningham Quotes

Trial. A formal inquiry designed to prove and put upon record the blameless characters of judges, advocates and jurors.

A trial is not a search for truth. It is a contest and, often, one that produces no winners.

A fair trial is one in which the rules of evidence are honored, the accused has competent counsel, and the judge enforces the proper courtroom procedures - a trial in which every assumption can be challenged.

The trial of a case is a three-legged stool - a judge and two advocates.

I'm not pretending when I'm in that court room.

Both sides should demand a speedy trial.

Courtroom dramas can be boring.

I believe I am entitled like any other person to have the presumption of innocence.

I have faith in the jury system.

Wherever they have been arraigned, a plain charge has been exhibited against them. They have had an impartial trial and have been permitted to make their defense.

It takes a long time to learn that a courtroom is the last place in the world for learning the truth.

I will go to what they call a court. Only they call it a court.

From childhood on, I did sit in the courtroom watching my father argue cases and talk to juries.

Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court.

There is - you know, there's receipts for rented cars and license plates and guns and hand prints and palm prints and fingerprints. You know, I want to wait until I'm in a court.

All sides in a trial want to hide at least some of the truth.

A trial without witnesses, when it involves a criminal accusation, a criminal matter, is not a true trial.

You have got to make sure there's due process for somebody that's accused of a crime. You've got make sure they're safe.

[The defendant] has an absolute, unqualified right to compel the State to investigate its own case, find its own witnesses, prove its own facts, and convince the jury through its own resources. Throughout the process, the defendant has a fundamental right to remain silent, in effect challenging the State at every point to “Prove it!”

Life as a barrister never was terribly real to me, and courtrooms were always a place of fantasy to me. They had nothing to do with discovering the truth, really, of course.

I agree with Scott Turow: A courtroom is inherently dramatic. You walk into court - it's like an ER, you know? Life and death is going on there. And it's moment-by-moment, and it's packed with energy. And even though you think you know what a witness is going to say, you can be wrong. Witnesses surprise you.

I can write dramas that are about inside and outside the courtroom.

The time has come for professional jurors.

The legal system is often a mystery, and we, its priests, preside over rituals baffling to everyday citizens.

Indictments of any kind are serious. That being said, let's not forget that an indictment is not a conviction. We still have due process in this country.