Maye’s current attorney, public defender Bob Evans, tells me one reason Maye have come off as unsympathetic to the jury was that he has an odd facial mannerism. He apparently has a half smile — Evans says some might call it a smirk — when he speaks, even when he’s talking about pretty important things, like saving his own life. Any defense attorney will tell you that a defendant’s body language is immensely important, perhaps more important than what he actually says. Evans’ description of Maye’s quirky mannerism seems to fit with what Maye’s trial attorney told me early on — that two jurors told her after the trial they thought Maye was spoiled and disrespectful. And that that impression made them less likely to believe his testimony.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 15th, 2005 at 10:31 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Cory Maye. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.