Is emotion appropriate in the courtroom?

June 08, 2005 12:20 PM •

If you find yourself in court and needing to convince a jury that you used deadly force or took other serious measures against a suspect because you feared for your life, remember that this is NOT the time to stay tough and keep a stiff upper lip.

You’re not there to prove you’re tough enough to handle life-threatening encounters and walk away unscathed. You’re there to prove that you are human and that you thought you were possibly going to die.

Showing true emotion can help prove your point. So, resist the temptation to prevent yourself from choking up. Think about what it really felt like to be staring death in the face. Think about the impact on your family if you had died. Think about what it felt like to be that vulnerable…and let it out.

Remember, however, that if the only emotion you can summon when you think about those things is extreme anger, keep that in check. Blowing your top can do you serious damage on the stand.

Police Training Women in Law Enforcement

Scott Buhrmaster

Scott Buhrmaster is the CEO of Calibre Press, one of the leading law enforcement training and information providers in the industry. Scott’s 30-year tenure began in 1989 when he originally signed on with Calibre where he was involved in the creation and marketing of the organization’s popular training courses and award-winning textbooks, videos and online publications.

In 1999, Scott launched The Buhrmaster Group, an organization focused on helping law enforcement training companies develop, market and expand their training efforts. Among his clients was Police1.com, which he signed on with full time as their vice president of training and editorial. During that period, Scott was named to the National Advisory Board of the Force Science Institute, at the time a newly developing organization which was also among his list of clients. Following a seven-year tenure at Police1, Scott signed on with Force Science full-time, initially serving as their vice president of operations and most recently serving as their COO.

Scott has been a long-time contributor to Police1 and has written extensively for other publications and Web sites in the law enforcement market. Additionally, he helped launch two of the most popular e-newsletters in the industry; the Street Survival Newsline and Force Science News. While at Police1, Scott served as the publisher of Police Marksman magazine and a contributing editor for Law Officer magazine.