THE PEOPLE V. JACK MERRIDEW

MOCK TRIAL

Opening Statement:

Corruption, destruction, death. These were all prominent characteristics of Jack Merridew’s untamed rule. A group of young English boys, no more than twelve years of age, were found stranded on a burning island. Unclothed and unkempt, these boys fell victim to the the tyrannical dictatorship that left this island in utter disarray. Jack threatened the leadership of Ralph, elected chief of the island and sole supporter of preservation of civilization. “Man’s innate domination”, this natural need for control and power can result in the overpowering of our judgment and our minds but this cannot cover up serious underlying issues that might result in a mentally unstable person and might account for many of Jack’s actions. We are here today to show you, the jury, that Jack Merridew is entirely responsible for the chaos on the island and that his imposing ways of life resulted in the tragic deaths of Piggy and Simon. This will also show that the events on the island are just an understatement compared to the true violence and turmoil Jack could cause in our society.

Examination Questions for Dr. Brown (child psychiatrist)

Dr. Brown was chosen to show that the bullying and animal abuse on the island corrupted the boys and could become increasingly dangerous in society. She was also chosen to draw connections to these two qualities that Jack had to horrible events such as Columbine.

Dr. Brown, as a child psychologist I’m sure that you are familiar with the situation presented before the court today and am hoping that you can briefly answer some questions for us.

1. In light of recent school shootings faced in America today, teaching professionals, students, parents and the law department have been attempting to take the necessary precautions to decrease if not eliminate the occurrence of these events. This is true, is it not?

2. I am sure that you are aware that many organizations, in effort to help, have issued warnings signs that have proven to be common in participants of school violence. Are you familiar with this?

3. Excellent, so lets just explore this a little more in depth for the court. One of these signs released by the national crime prevention association is if a child shows cruelty to pets or animals. Do you remember if it was mentioned that this occurred on the island at all?

Yes, the pig, not just a pig but a sow. The boys, under the direction of Jack, hunted down a female pig not simply for meat, which was not truly needed in the first place and could be received from another male pig, but for pure enjoyment. Once she was hunt down, the pig was tortured. Of course this was not done by just Jack all of the boys participated but it was under Jack’s influence which was obviously of extreme importance would you not agree?

This shows Jack’s irrationality in that it did not even occur to him that this pig was mother to young pigs that would feed his people in the future. It also is a perfect example of how Jack showed cruelty to animals.

4. Another characteristic also pointed out in statistics is bullying. Often occurring out of

the presence of adults, bullying has come under intense public and media scrutiny recently among reports that it may have been a contributing factor in shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, in 1999 and Santana High School in CA, in early 2001 as well as a player in other juvenile violence including suicide. Bullying can affect the social environment of a child's life, creating fear among students and leading to other anti-social behavior. Studies have also shown that victims of bullies, children that have been picked on throughout their lives are also possible suspects for violence in schools. Does this sound familiar in association with Jack?

Yes, Piggy was called ‘fatty’ by Jack and he provoked arguments with Piggy. In your experience, do you think that bullying and animal abuse are standard characteristics of all young boys? Is it natural?

Both of these ideas, show that Jack had qualities that are not deemed normal for all children and are being investigated by many different professionals. They show that Jack had irrational and inappropriate behavior for a leader as well as the fact that he could presumably be a suspect for school and or child violence or be afflicting someone so that they will grow to have violent tendencies

Examination Questions for Ralph:

Ralph was chosen to show that not every member of the island’s population was as cynical as Jack and that Jack possessed some abnormal characteristics. He was also used to show leadership differences.

1. What was your job on the island?

2. How did you handle your responsibilities? Did you take them seriously?

3. Did you accompany Jack and the hunters when killing the female pig?

How did you feel afterwards? Did you enjoy it?

4. How did you feel after Simon’s death? Were you upset?

5. Do you think that Jack was jealous of you? For your power?

Knowing that Jack had violent tendencies did you fear your safety on the island?

In your opinion, were his characteristics found in all boys? Just him? Was it just his influence?

6. How did Jack affect you? Your tribe? Your hope? Although he did find food, do you think he was true asset to the tribe or did he mostly just take it down?

Examination Questions for Jack

How was the brutal beating of Wilfred keeping order in your tribe?
Can you justify allowing a weapon which was only have been used to kill a human, being allowed and made by and for your tribe?
How were you keeping the peace and keeping order in your tribe, when you attacked and murdered Simon, even after knowing that he was a human.
It is understood that you as a leader, were expected to provide meat for your tribe, however what was the reason for torturing the sow when you killed her for food.

Examination and Cross Examination Questions for Piggy

1. Is it true that all you wanted to do was uphold the laws and restore peace?

2. How did Jack respond to your ideas?

3. Did you ever threaten Jack, physically or threatening his power?

4. Is it true that you could not see, so you could not defend yourself?

Examination and Cross Examination Questions for Simon

1. Is it true that you were screaming about the dead parachutist on the top of the mountain before they attacked you?

2. Were Jack's tribe starving?

3. So there was no real reason to attack you?

4. Did Jack present good qualities for a leader?

5. It is shown that Jack presented violent behavior on the island, slicing candle buds, playing with blood; did anyone else act this way?

Closing Statement:

As you can see, the condition of the island at the discovery of the boys was disgraceful. Savages roamed the burnt land while a child ran in terror while being hunted down like an animal. We can possibly conclude these horrific events to the intimidating conditions on the island but one cannot overlook Jack Merridew’s evil influence over all of the boys. The testimonies of our witnesses have shown the court today that the killing or hunting of another human being is not an instinctive characteristic possessed by man. On the contrary it was Jack’s extreme demeanor that resulted in the hysteria taking place. Mans “innate need for dominance” was apparent in each and everyone of the boys, that cannot be ignored but after seeing specific examples of Jack’s unruly manner one cannot say that he did not play a role in these two deaths. Jack Merridew is truly guilty of these actions and should be held accountably.

Outlines:

Opening Statement:

Short background of situation on island

Jack Merridew=not successful leader

“mans innate need for domination”-explain,-->how it affects us

Based on testimonies, evidence in the novel, plus documentation and statistics Jack is responsible for chaos on island, two deaths, and poses a threat to society

Closing Statement:

Jack=guilty

results of his rule on the island (condition of boys, condition of island, etc.)

make connections and general conclusions

Evidence:

1. Book Reference (included)

2. School Shooting Warning Signs (included)

Witnesses and Questions:

1. Psychologist

2. Piggy

3. Simon

4. Ralph

5. Jack

Reflection:

Success is defined as favorable outcomes as in endeavors. Although we won our trial I don’t think as lawyers or as a court we truly “succeeded” and accomplished the assigned task.

Honestly our biggest threat throughout the whole trial and preparation was not our defense lawyers but time itself. I know this is an assignment that I really enjoyed and was interested in but was under a huge amount of stress with the amount of work and other classes. I would have appreciated more time to explore and research the issues as well as go into detail about the court system. In this retrospect, I was not satisfied with my performance at court because I felt that I was not prepared sufficiently. I know that this is also influenced by my high standards and expectations for myself but nevertheless it was upsetting.

After reading the book, watching our class discussions, and then watching our court as well as hearing about the other mock trials it seems apparent that most people had decided even before the trials had begun that Jack was guilty. Although I do think that the defense did an excellent job arguing their case and proved to be effective I think it should have been a more open issue or event that was on trial rather the something so based on opinion and here say.

I was also frustrated with our witnesses. In a real trial witnesses are prepped and rehearsed so that they can answer accordingly in court and support the people that they are representing but my impression was that we were not permitted to do this. This affected our presentation greatly and most definitely weakened our case’s appearance to the court. I felt that the witnesses we chose were good choices but something should have been done either on their part, our part or both to make things run smoother. I felt that, as an observer, the witnesses did not seem prepared with a full knowledge of the events of the novel either.

In the area of preparedness the lawyers, the judge, and the witnesses needed a clearer explanation of what is appropriate behavior in a court room. Although we were given a very informative packet about court proceedings I don’t think that everyone read it thoroughly and this could have helped to make things run smoother. This factor can account for my partner and I being argumentative and leading the witnesses. As you can see, this is an assignment that I did have an interest in and thought was very educational. It was a great way to teach about the judicial system, learn about working in small groups as well as large groups, and test us about our knowledge of the book. I just wish that we had more time to spend on it but I guess that is true for any assignment.