In the far rarer cases when the victim is a husband and the defendant is a battered wife, the courtroom tactics change dramatically.

Mr. O'Neill's aggressive courtroom tactics and his public taunts made him the trial's dominating personality.

The captain employed a subtle and formidable courtroom tactic, leaning in toward the witness, pinning him with a hawkish stare.

Lawyers who followed the proceedings said the trial would be studied as an extraordinary primer on courtroom tactics and prosecutorial pitfalls.

But as a matter of courtroom tactics, the Thoreau defense has won praise from lawyers.

A 1992 article in California Lawyer magazine said he used "aggressive - some say temperamental" courtroom tactics to win several big cases.

Mr. Terry and his supporters have particularly angered Atlanta officials with their courtroom tactics.

Still, the story is smartly told by the same people who bring you "48 Hours," and courtroom tactics are illuminated along the way.

But courtroom tactics are only part of the attraction.

It also felt that Smith's courtroom tactics made a mockery of the legal procedure: