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Communication Strategies Of The Virginio Gomez-Santillan Rape Trial

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The Communicational Strategies of the Virginio Gomez-Santillan Rape Trial

Adam Garnica
Comm 177
Winter 2023
Professor: Dr. Gordon Abra
University of California, Santa Barbara

The Communicational Strategies of the Virginio Gomez-Santillan Rape Trial Communication in the courtroom deals with topics such as an objection to cross-examinations that allow forms of persuasion, strategy, and protocol. On February 15, 2023, the Superior Court of Santa Barbara held the trial of the defendant, Virginio Gomez-Santillan v. People of the State of California. This was over various sex charges including intent to commit rape. The victim “Jane Doe” claimed that on July 22, 2021, her next door neighbor, Mr. Santillan sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious. The attorneys, judges, audience, and jurors all possessed unique communication patterns. These ultimately impact the decision of whether Mr. Santillan is guilty and showcases the standards of a trial. As a communication student from the University of California, Santa Barbara I was able to decipher these communication …show more content…

This form of communication was evident nearly the entire time. The judge, Pauline Maxwell, introduced the background of the case and gave closing remarks. Witnesses spoke about what they saw the night of the incident. The attorneys spoke out loud in refutation of the opposing side’s remarks. I can tell that the attorneys and judge have grown accustomed to court by the way they were speaking. The defense attorney made a remark stating that there was no substantial evidence to convict his client as his DNA was not present. The prosecutor refuted this by saying “although the defense likes to claim there was no DNA evidence of Mr. Santillan, the tests relied on touch DNA that could have been wiped off”. This meant that there was no substantial DNA evidence that could directly correlate the defendant to the

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