A good piece of advice, readers:
Narrator’s point of view
‘The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.’ Proverbs 18 verse 17
Follow any court case – or even any debate, and if you’re undecided, it’s who puts the most convincing case, which is both logical and consistent. The facts, set out by either party, from their point of view, lead to some conclusion. It’s not what they tell you, it is what they show you. It helps if one of the two is someone you are disposed to trust. For instance, if you have to get a nurse or a paramedic (both right at very top end of every poll on trust) against say a lawyer or a politician or a used car salesman (usually at the bottom), the former will ALWAYS get public support, whereas instinctive distrust follows the others like a close encounter with a skunk. Now, there are crooked nurses, and possibly lawyers who are the soul of integrity, and whose work is purely for the benefit of mankind. But you have a hell a job on your hands to convince anyone they’re not the stereotype.
Still, in the end, in the court of public opinion the credibility of anyone can be undermined, and the audience decides – regardless of what the court decides (very different parameters, courts require certain legal standards, the public has its own standard. Some can skate – perhaps being really not guilty – in court. The public however may still condemn them, or vice versa.)