| Sumario: | Part of a special issue on conventions in science and law. The move from the scientific-technical arena into the legal courtroom makes explicit the role of persuasion and the rhetorical frames that go with it. Scientific and technical evidence in the U.S. courtroom bring together three communities: the community of legal professionals, the community of scientific and technical experts, and the community of lay citizens embodied in the jury. Both technical and nontechnical evidence is presented to persuade these communities. Even though there are common elements to effective persuasion across multiple audiences, the norms governing persuasion can differ among the groups in a courtroom. For instance, while the lay jury may consider common sense important in assessing the arguments they hear, scientists are trained to be skeptical of common sense unless there is systematic evidence to support it.
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