Reference no: EM133238940
You have been selected to serve on jury duty for a criminal case. The attorney for the defense argues as follows:
"If my client is guilty, then the knife was in the drawer. Either the knife was not in the drawer or Jason Pritchard saw the knife. If the knife was not there on October 10, it follows that Jason Pritchard did not see the knife. Furthermore, if the knife was there on October 10, then the knife was in the drawer and also the hammer was in the barn. But we all know that the hammer was not in the barn. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client is innocent."
Question 1: Is the proposition a tautology or not, and why or why not?
Question 2: What pieces of evidence should the defense attorney provide in support of their argument?
Question 3: What informal or flowery wording does the defense attorney use to make their argument seem more convincing without affecting the logical meaning?
Question 4: As a juror, should you vote guilty or not guilty, why, and how confident are you?