Interactional dilemmas occur when participants are required to engage in two contradictory activities at the same time or orient to two conflicting goals. The existence of such dilemmas provides a context for interactants to be creative, pro-active, and indeed strategic as they maneuver between the numerous demands placed on them and produce behavior that fits the ongoing communication episode. Trials are one such episode in which the various participants -- in this case, the judge, the defendant, and lawyers -- experience interactional dilemmas and work to resolve these through their...