'American Sniper: Jurors' Use Of Visual Evidence

On the early afternoon of February 2, 2013, thirteen bullets left two prestigious military men dead the scene. After the death of the two in the shooting range, a vicious manhunt was triggered to find their killer, Eddie Ray Routh. This was the murder of the “American Sniper”, Chris Kyle and his military partner, Chad Littlefield. On February 11, 2013, the murder trial was opened. Visual evidence is key to keeping the jurors indulged in a trial. Jurors are easily distracted and tend to stray from listening to a large amount of auditory information. Lawyers are increasing their use of visual evidence in trials. They can hire a professional to create an example of what happened at the scene or they can show actual footage of the crime. Either way, they are catering to jurors’ need to be entertained. Although this is a more interesting way to display evidence, it can be over presented by turning every bit of evidence into visuals. Visual evidence should be used sparingly and possibly in between bits of auditory information to keep things moving. During the murder trial of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, Chris’ wife, Tara, was the prosecution’s lead witness. …show more content…
His lawyers claimed he did not understand the difference of right and wrong at that time. Visual evidence that was shown in relation to his plea was the chase and standoff between law enforcement and the killer, Routh. The video was thirty minutes long and was recorded off of a body camera on a responding officer. This evidence showed the jury that Routh knew the difference between right and wrong. He knew that he had done wrong and fled the scene. He even told his sister that he was planning on fleeing to Oklahoma to hide from law enforcement. Other evidence shown during the trial, portrayed that Routh was under the influence as well. He had smoked marijuana and drank whiskey before leaving his house that