Former News of the World Editor Rebekah Brooks' Body Language May Alienate Jurors

by Dr. Lillian Glass

After watching Rebekah Brooks, former editor of News of the World and once the most powerful woman in the Rupert Murdoch empire, give her testimony, I observed that he cockiness, air of arrogance and entitlement relayed via her monotone facial expression and icy tone would not go over well at the Leveson Inquiry.

Even the dress this once fashion plate wore, a white peter pan collar in with black bodice (as seen in the photo below), backfired as it was obviously worn to manipulate in giving the illusion of appearing as a soft, meek, innocent school girl.

She has now been charged with the crime of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

If she presents herself the way she presented herself when she gave her testimony, and when she came out in her press conference publicly attacking by accusing police and prosecutors of bowing to political pressure to find scapegoats for the hacking scandal, this once social butterfly who hobnobbed with Prime Ministers and the crème de la creme of society will most likely be spending he rest of her days behind bars. She comes across as unlikeable and needs a major image overhaul if she is to gain any type of jury sympathy.

The body does not lie and neither does the voice. In my view she needs to come across more humble and less hostile if she has any chance of presenting her case so a jury will listen to her with an open mind.

In another blatant show of arrogance and manipulation, Rebecca Brooks and her husband decided to have their press conference five minutes before the Crown Prosecution Service had their chance to announce that Rebecca Brown has been charged. The Brown’s made a calculated move to make their announcement before 6PM to make sure it would appear on the evening news.

Her husband also did not do his wife any favor her during the presser as he accused the prosecutors of subjecting his wife to a “witchunt” and stated that there were 172 police officers investigating phone hacking, computer hacking and corrupt payments to public officials. He then went on to say “so it’s no surprise to me that the pressure is on to bring prosecutions, however weak they may be” and “I have grave reservations that my wife can ever get a fair trial, given the huge volume of biased commentary that she is constantly subjected to.”

Rebekah Brooks did not help her defense as well by stating that it was “nothing more than an expensive sideshow, a waste of public money as a result of an unjust and weak decision.”

Both Brooks and her husband will appear at City of London magistrates’ court on June 13, after having been formally charged with tree counts conspiring to pervert the course of justice after news of a deceased girl’s voicemails were hacked by News of the World and she allegedly concealed documents, computers, and other electronic equipment from Scotland Yard officers who were investigating phone hacking and corrupt payments to public officials.

While Brook’s trial is said to begin next year, it was just announced at the Canes film festival that there will be a film about her life which Producer Gene Kirkwood likens to the downfall of Richard Nixon will trace her rise to power from secretary to one of the most powerful women in the world. There is even talk of Nicole Kidman portraying Brooks because of their physical likeness. The project is said to begin when Brook’s phone hacking scandal concludes so the producer will know how the film will end.

According to a Vanity Fair article on which the film will be based, Rebekah Brooks used her “magnetic attraction” to make her way in a male-dominated tabloid world as well as getting whatever she wanted in life.

Her “magnetic attraction," which worked so well for her in the past, may now come to an end as she faces a jury of her peers. She will no longer be able to use her feminine charms to manipulate. She will need to come across a lot differently and lose the attitude if she has any chance at not spending the rest of her life behind bars.