Oregon Law Review : Vol. 86 No. 2, p. 295-327 : The Year of Truman Capote: Legal Ethics and In Cold Blood
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Date
2007
Authors
Caudill, David
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon School of Law
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to use Capote’s In Cold Blood as
a point of reflection on several ethical obligations of lawyers. In
Part I, I focus on Capote’s accounts of the prosecution’s use of
expert witnesses, and his suggestion that defense counsel were
(i) unable or unwilling to deal with their personal conflicts of
interest and (ii) incompetent, the latter of which became the
subject of disciplinary investigations and federal court review. In
terms of the duties of an advocate, Capote sees the prosecution
as going too far, and the defense as failing to go far enough. In
Part II, I turn to the ethical limitations on lawyers as storytellers,
focusing on opening and closing arguments at trial. While it
would seem to be unethical to fail to tell a client’s story as
dramatically as possible, there is always a risk of turning fact into
fiction. I conclude in Part III that Capote’s nonfiction novel, and
the circumstances surrounding its writing, provide valuable
ethical insights for students and practitioners concerning the
goals and limits of trial advocacy.
Description
33 p.
Keywords
Capote, Truman, 1924-1984. In cold blood, In cold blood, Legal ethics
Citation
86 Or. L. Rev. 295 (2007)