OKLAHOMA CITY, OK—Attorney at law, Victor Applebaum, enjoys his work as a criminal defense attorney for several reasons. He enjoys the variety of the work, the sense of accomplishment he gets when things go well for his clients, and he especially likes the people with whom he works. However, he told The Colon on Saturday that out of everything he does in his line of work, nothing is more satisfying than asking a pointed question to a witness on the stand, and then tossing in a reminder that they are under oath.
"It's such a power move," shared Applebaum, who graduated from Notre Dame's School of Law. "They're already really uncomfortable in the courtroom, and I'm already scrutinizing everything they're saying. The jury is reading their every move, looking for signs of credibility. All I have to do is ask a question—it could be about anything, really—and then just slip in a 'May I remind you you're under oath?' They hate that!"
The father-of-one related that he uses his little trick any chance he gets. "I'd estimate that I use it between twenty and fifty times in every trial. Sometimes, before I even ask the question, I'll ambush them by asking them what they understand an oath is. It's gotten a couple of objections, but not usually."
In reality, a review of transcripts from Mr. Applebaum's last 10 trials shows that he averages 374.8 statements related to reminding witnesses that they are under oath. For example, for a trial defending a client accused of armed robbery, he questioned the arresting officer, "Now, Officer Tristan, would you please tell the members of the jury your badge number for the record, remembering that you are under oath?... Now, again recalling that you are under oath, can you describe in detail where you were standing when you—again, under oath here—when you were taking the alleged victim's statement that was suspiciously not given under oath, in contrast to your present statement?"
Applebaum admits that he sometimes goes too far with his oath reminders. "Yeah, I had a little too much coffee one morning and reminded the judge that she was under oath after I asked if I could approach the bench. I then reminded the bailiff that he was under oath. I also mistakenly said that I was under oath when asking the questions, but of course I wasn't."
The attorney's coworkers sometimes struggle with Applebaum's near-obsession with oath reminders, finding that it sometimes distracts from the actual evidence at a trial. Shirley Meyers, a colleague of Applebaum, stated, "Yeah, I was co-counsel with him on some cases. After about 20 minutes of questioning, I completely tuned out from what he was saying, and just started counting how many times he said the word 'oath.' I got to 94 before I just had to zone out."
This distracting effect may have some hidden advantages. Although Mr. Applebaum insists that it has the psychological effect of keeping the witness on edge, it seems also to be enormously distracting to the others in the courtroom, particularly the jury. "Oh, Applebaum is the king of hung juries," related coworker Meyers. "It's no surprise either—I imagine that the jury gets to deliberations and nobody was listening to the evidence any more. They probably compare notes on how obsessed the defense attorney is with oaths!"
Applebaum stands by his practice, however. He seems to believe that, in addition to the effect it has on the witnesses, he truly thinks that some witnesses tend to forget that they are under oath, and appreciate his helpful reminders.