EXOD780 In cases of capital punishment, he who originally argued in the defendant’s favor cannot later argue against him. The verse teaches us several laws about Jewish court procedures in cases involving offenses punishable by death: (1) A judge must not rule a certain way simply because a judge of higher standing rules that way. Similarly, a judge must not simply follow the majority. His ruling must be based upon his own understanding and weighing of the evidence. Similarly, if he thinks of a point that to him seems relevant to the case, he is not allowed to remain silent about it. Neither is he allowed to dismiss the thought and rule only on the basis of other points that his fellow judges mentioned in the deliberations. (2) A judge who originally argued for acquittal cannot later argue to convict. (3) The first argument offered in the deliberation should not be in favor of convicting the accused. Rather, the judges should try to first present an argument for acquittal. (4) The first argument cannot come from the most prestigious judge on the court, lest other judges submit and defer to his opinion. Rather, the deliberations must open with statements from the court's least prestigious judge. Key concepts: If a judge were allowed to follow the thinking of one of his fellow judges, without weighing the facts of the case himself, it could happen that a case would be decided on the basis of only one judge’s opinion. Perhaps every judge on the court would follow the thinking of just one of them! Hashem does not want anyone to be put to death on the basis of just one man's opinion. All of the above-mentioned laws derived from this verse show Divine compassion on the person being tried, for Hashem has compassion on all of His creations, as a father has compassion on his sons. The elements discussed above are not activated in court procedures concerning money matters, however, because money and property can always be returned.