ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the case United States v. Bianco, where the convictions for murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and a plethora of other illegal activities were grave indeed. The attorneys, like storytellers, adjusted their presentations to the dynamics of the event and the nature of the material, especially in their closing arguments. The chapter focuses on the closing argument by Jeremiah Donovan on behalf of one defendant, Louis Failla. After a thematic overview of Donovan's argument, it addresses principles of cinematic construction derived from screenwriting courses and manuals. The argument presented a three-part narrative structure akin to the three act classical dramatic structure as reconfigured in commercial film. The similarities are remarkable; it is as if the aesthetic concerns of popular cinematic storytelling had been adopted in shaping the trial and the closing argument that encapsulated the defendant's version of reality.
