The decision about whether to have a defendant take the witness stand can be the most important one in a criminal case, because the entire trial tends to turn on that performance, good or bad, legal experts say.
Into the chaos, the fumbling in the dark, an order is imposed as people form circles around performers, a troupe of acrobats, jugglers and escape artists, a comedian, a group of musicians, a story-teller... this is trial by public jury: if the performance falls flat, the tricks fail to amuse or the stories to amaze, the crowds move on.