1.   McFadden must persuade the jury of her innocence.

2.   And Yagman has persuaded a jury to award damages personally against the police chief -- not once, but twice.

3.   A prosecutor, Heide Mason, sought in her questioning to persuade the jury that any brain impairment Harris had was mild.

4.   But the testimony of his former friends and several suggestive conversations caught on the tapes apparently were enough to persuade the jury.

5.   Confident that their medical evidence and her testimony is strong enough to persuade the jury, lawyers for British au pair Louise Woodward took a major gamble yesterday.

6.   If the jury were persuaded, it could convict her of manslaughter.

7.   The following year, a Superior Court judge in San Diego agreed with the oil companies who said evidence in the case was insufficient to persuade a jury.

8.   But short of groundshaking revelations, the opening arguments are pivotal for persuading the jury.