Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Frankenstein Trial Script







VICTORIN WONDERLAND




MockTrial
Written byHeatherGascoigne


























JusticeEducationSociety








Sir:

Crown Counsel
Number1:

Number2: Number3:
Witnesses
Letelier of Hearts:

White Rabbit: Pollo of Hearts:
Defence Counsel
Number1:

Number2: Number3:
Witnesses
Victor:

Cheshire Cat: Mad Hatter:
Sir: CourtReporter:
Deputy Sheriff:
Number1:

Number2:

Jury:

ROLES














TRIAL PROCEDURE





1.      The casestarts when the sheriff calls“Orderin the court. All rise.”Everyone stands. The Sir enters and takes his/her seat. Everyone sits down.

2.      The Sir calls the caseRegina versus                                   (names ofthe accused).

3.      The Crown and defence lawyers introduce themselves to theSir.

4.      The clerk reads out the charge (the indictment),and asks each of the accused, How do you plead?

5.      Each of the accused answers“Notguilty.”

6.      TheCrown makesanopening statement to thejury.

7.      TheCrown calls its firstwitness.

8.      Thedefencecross-examines this witness.

9.      Repeat thelasttwo stepsfor each witness.

10.  TheCrown rises andsays “That concludes the Crowns case, YourHonour.”

11.  Thedefencebegins bymaking ashortopening statementto thejury.

12.  Thedefencecalls its first witness.

13.  TheCrown counselcross-examines this witness.

14.  Repeat thelasttwo stepsfor each witness.

15.  Defence and Crown counsels each makeaclosing statementto thejury. Thedefencegoes first, followed bythe Crown.

16.  TheSir instructs the jury.

17.  Juryleaves to decide a verdict.

18.  Juryreturns.

19.  The Sirasks for theverdict.

20.  TheSir lets theaccused go freeif theverdict is “Not guilty.”Ifthe verdict is “Guilty,”the Sirasks one Crown lawyer and onedefencelawyer tospeakto sentence.TheSirthen sentencestheaccused.

21.  The court says,Order inthe Court.”Everyonestands, theSirleavesandthe trial ends.



SCRIPT




Sir:                               All rise, this court is now in session.,  His/her honour Sir
presiding. (Everyone remains standing until the Sir tells them to be seated).

Sir:                               You may be seated.  Are all parties present?

Nikos:                          (stands and addresses the Sir) Yes, Your Honour.The case of The creature vs. Victor Frankenstein. I am Nikos and these are my colleagues (each member presents itself) .We are acting on behalf of the creature.

Sir:                               Thank you. The charge is the following:
                                    Victor,you’re charged for negligence, malpractice, and emotional and physical distress. How do you plead?

Andrew:                      Not Guilty!

(Those standing now sit down.)

Sir:                               (to Prosecution)Please proceed withyour case.

Ray:                             (Opening Statement) Your Honour, we intend to prove that Victor deliberately committed acts of negligence, malpractice, and emotional and physical distress, from the moment he abandoned his own creation, the night when he was given life, until now. (Ray sits down)


Jander:                         (stands up) To support our case, we will be calling the creature and WaltonWe no wish to call the Victor’s creation.

(All Witnesses remain standing until they have been sworn in.)

Sir:                               State your name and address, please.

Letelier:                       I don’t have a name, I’m Victor’s Creation, I live in a forest in Ingolstad.

Sir:                               Take the Bible in your right hand.  Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Letelier:                       I do.


Nikos:                          Creature, please tellThe Court”what happened on the night you were created.

Letelier:                       It was a cold, dark night. When I opened my eyes the first thing I saw was my creator.

Nikos:                           Do you see the same person in the court room today?

Letelier:                       Yes! It’s Him! (points at Andrew)

Nikos:                          What was the reaction that your creator had when he saw you?

Letelier:                       He ran away screaming: “He’s a live!”

Nikos:                          The cries were of happiness?

Letelier:                       Not at all.

Nikos:                          How did you feel?

Letelier:                       It’s really hard to express… I think that I felt sad and angry at the same time, because I was alive but the reaction of my master made me really annoyed and angry.

Nikos:                       Thank you.  No further questions, Your Honour.

Sir:                        (To DefenceDo you wish to cross-examine this witness?

Jeremy:                    (stands)Yes, Your Honour.

Creature, you called Victor: ”Master”, so I believe that is your creator. I’m Wrong?





Letelier:                       No you are not.

Jeremy:                        So it means that you owe your life to him. Right?

Letelier:                       I guess so…

Jeremy:                        You also said that you felt angry and sad. Now tell me, why were you angry with Victor?

Letelier:          Because I was alone and people chased me.


Jeremy:                        But as you said the people chased you, so Victor actually never hurt you. I am right?

Letelier:                       Not physically, but he did it psychologically.

Jeremy:                        Before doing the next question I´d like to show you this reliquary. Do you know who the owner of this is? And could you tell us please who the owner is?

Letelier:                       Yes, I know. The owner is William Frankenstein.

Jeremy:                        And you were the one who killed him yes or no?

Letelier:                       Yes (looks to the floor).

Jeremy:                        So insulting you would have been a normal reaction?

Letelier:                       Yes.

Jeremy:                        I have no further questions, Your Honour.

Sir:                        (to witness)You may step down.
(to Prosecution)You may call your next witness.


Jander:                         We call Walton, a friend of Victor and the creature.

Sir:                               State your name and address, please.

Pollo:                           I am Walton, and actually, I don’t have an static home, because I’m doing a trip to the north Pole.

Sir:                               Take the Bible in your right hand.  Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Pollo:                           I do.

Sir:                               You may be seated.

Jander:                         Walton, are you a friend of Victor?

Pollo:                           I was, until he abandoned his own creation!(angry) How you could do that!

Jander:                         And how it’s your relationship with him in actual times?

Pollo:                           I used to admire him, he told me his adventures and how he created this awesome living thing! (points at Monster), I wanted to be just like him, he was so smart and so perseverant, until I found the truth…

Jander:                         Can you tell the court this truth?

Pollo:                           Of course I will, everybody must know that Victor Frankenstein is the worst person in the whole world! He abandoned his creation, it was almost like his son! He deserves banishment and pain for the rest of his life!

Jander:                         Thank you.  No further questions, Your Honour.

Sir:                               (To DefenceDo you wish to cross-examine this witness?

Joaco:                          Yes, Your Honor.

Walton, what did you do to help this creature?




Pollo:                           Well, really I didn’t have enough space to live with him or enough money
                                    To buy some clothes to him…

Joaco:                          So are you telling us that you are accusing Victor of abandon his creation when you have done nothing about it?

Pollo:                           I said I didn’t have enough money, but I gave him Love!

Joaco:                          Can you answer the question please?

Pollo:                           Yes, I am.

Joaco:                          So can you tell me the differences between your behavior and Victor’s
                                    One?

Pollo:                           Well… There are not such big differences…

Defence:                      No further questions, Your Honour.

Sir:                               (to witness)You may step down.

Ray:                             We rest our case, Your Honour. Sir:         (to Crown)Thank you.
(toDefence)Will the Defence please begin.

Joaco:                          (Opening Statement)We submit that this poor innocent man, Victor, has been wrongfully accused.  He abandoned his creation because he was a very dangerous living thing, that could kill him anytime.

Pipe:                            We will call Victor and Henry Clervals witnesses. I now call, the accused, Victor to the stand.

Sir:                               State your name and address, please.

Victor:                         Victor. I live at Geneva, street Waterfall, 1090.

Sir:                               Take the Bible in your right hand.  Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Victor:                         I do.

Sir:                               You may be seated.

Pipe:                            Victor, can you tell us the night that the Creature was created?






Pipe:                            Sure, I gave live to him, and when he opened his eyes, I felt so happy
                                    I thought it was my best moment in my whole career so I ran away screaming!

Defence:                      Where does cries of happiness?

Pipe:                            Of course, but just for a moment, because once he stood up I felt his hate!
                                    His eyes were so yellow and terrifying, his hands so big! I thought he was
                                    Going to kill me so I ran away.

Defence:                      Did you see your creature the next day?

Pipe:                            Yes.  I must confess that it took a long time for me to calm down, because my creation, for what I worked so hard for at least 2 years hates me! I came back to my home after 6 hours, it was afternoon, when I opened the door the first thing I saw was that al my furniture, including my science materials were destroyed. But the creature wasn’t there.

Pipe:                            Did you try to search for the creature after you realized it wasn’t there?

Victor:                         Sure! I search at least for a whole day, but I couldn’t find a clue about him!

Pipe:                            Thank you Victor. No further questions My Honour.

Sir:                               (To ProsecutionDo you wish to cross-examine this witness?

Ray:                             Yes, My Honour.
                                   
                                    Victor, is it true you didn’t give a name to your creation?

Victor:                         Yes, it’s true. But I didn’t had enough time! When I came back for him, he was gone!

Ray:                             But what kind of father doesn’t give his son a name?

Victor:                         Like I said before I couldn’t find him.

Ray:                             So you are saying you never see him again until today?

Victor:                         Of course I did, but he was so angry… He hate me! I couldn’t have a relax talk with him, because I was also screaming at me.

Ray:                             So you didn’t do anything to help your creature, your own creation?

Victor:                         Well, I was so scared, so confused…
               


Ray:                             Can you answer my question?

Victor:                     Fine I admit it, I didn’t do anything, he hate me! But did somebody help him! NO!

Ray:                         Thanks you. No further questions, My Honour.

Defence:                      We call Henry Clerval,your Honour.

Sir:                               State your name and address.

Aris:                            Henry Clerval, Waterfall 1092.
    Jeremy:                        Which is your relationship with VF?
Aris:                                I had been a friend of Victor since we were kids, he was more interested on science and I was interested on culture and society. Even though we had some differences, that didn´t affect our friendship that has lingered over the years.

Jeremy:                            What happened after Victor created the creature?
Aris:                                I met him after that; I had to nurse him because he started having a nervous fever that lasted for several months, also he had lost his senses.
Jeremy:                            (Sits) Now my colleague want to ask a question.
Joaco:                              Could you tell the court victor's reaction after receiving the news of William and Justine deaths?
Aris:                                He was really depressed, so much that I decided to cheer him up, but I couldn´t and I tried all the time I could. One of the ideas I had was to escort him to Scotland, but it didn´t worked.


Joaco:                              (sits)

Pipe:                                Can I ask one more question Your Honour?

Sir:                                  Yes, you may.

Pipe:                                What did the creature do when Victor refused of creating a partner for him?

Aris:                                The creature… the creature killed me.

Pipe:                                And can you explain The Court how are you here?

Aris:                                Victor revived me by the use of electricity.

Pipe:                                Your Honour, here it’s the proof that Henry is telling the truth (Shows Video)

Sir:                                  (To ProsecutionDoyou wish to cross-examinethis witness?

Nikos:                          No, My Honour.

Defence:                      We rest our case, YourHonour.

Sir:                               (to Crown and Defence) You maybeginyour summations.

Pipe:                            Thankyou, YourHonour.

(to Jury) Gentlemen ofthe Jury, wehaveshown that Victor
only abandoned his creature because it’s a dangerous living thing, who killed two close persons to his master.He never tried to hurt physically or emotionally, it was all self-defense. Therefore, wecan certain thatyou will agreethatVictor is innocent ofcharges,and willfind himnotguilty.

Sir:                               (to Defence)Thankyou.

Jander:                         Thankyou, YourHonour.

(to Jury) Gentlemen of theJury, wehaveshown that Victorhurt his creation emotionally and physically, that he abandoned him, knowing that may not be able to fend for himself. Therefore,you must find himguiltyof charges!

Sir:                               (to Crown)Thankyou.

Sir:                               (Jury exists, and votes onallcharges based on theevidence. A majority decision isallthatisneeded. A foreperson is selected to speakfor thejury. The Jury returns).


VEREDICT

Sir:                               Order in thecourt. Allrise.



TheEnd



GLOSSARY

1.  Trial:          hearingbeforeaSir, or Sirand jury, to decide if aperson has broken  the law.

2.  Verdict:               findingbythe court if aperson is guiltyor notguilty.

3.  Evidence:            informationpresented bylawyers during atriali.e. witnesses, exhibits, etc.

4.  Witness:               persongivinginformation duringthe trial.

5.  Exhibit:               object, such as aweaponorpieceof cloth as part ofthe evidence used bylawyers to provea case.

6.  Sentence:             punishmentorderedbySirafter accused is found guilty.

7.  Sir                        person who finds aperson guiltyor not guilty.

8.  Jury:                    groupof twelve people who find apersonguiltyornot guilty.

9.  Crown                 lawyer for thegovernment who has to provethataperson isguiltyof
Counsel:                  breakingthe law.

10.  Defence             lawyer who defendsaperson accused of breaking the law.
Counsel:

11.  Accused:            person suspected of breakingthe law.
12.  Court                 person assistingthe Sir.
Clerk:

13.  Sheriff:              person who islikeapoliceofficerof the court whose job itis to maintainsecurityin thecourtroom.



TIPS

·                  Stick to the script although some improvisation can occur.

·                  Remember that witnesses cannot be asked to make statements on matters that they have not personally seen or heard.

·               Crown and Defence Counsel should always stand when speaking.

·                  Always address the Sir as “Your Honour

·                  Sir may ask other questions throughout the trial to clarify points, so lawyers should be prepared to answer these.

·                  Speak clearly!

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