Courtroom Dictionary Stella Abadi Alfie

10C Subject: English

Dictionary    

1. Objection:  It  is  a  motion  during  a  trial  that  disallow  evidence.  2. Justice:  It  is  a  concept  based  on  moral  rights.  3. Jail:  A  prison,  for  the  detention  for  persons  that  commit  a  crime.  4. Guilty:  Committed  a  crime,  violation  or  wrong  against  moral  law.  5. Innocent:  Free  from  moral  wrong.  6. Lawyer:  A  person  that  his  profession  is  to  defend  people  in  a  court.  7. Charges:  To  ask  for  a  fee  or  price.  8. Witness:  To  be  see,  heard  or  known  by  a  person.  9. Fair  trial:  A  trial  that  is  conducted  with  fair  and  justice.  10. Officer:    A  policeman,  that  works  to  protect  the  citizens.    11. Prosecution:  People  that  fight  against  the  person  in  trial.  12. Case:  A  particular  situation.  13. The  accused:  The  person  on  trial.  14. The  verdict:  The  decision  if  the  person  is  guilty  or  innocent.  15. The  defense:  A  person  against  whom  the  law  is  accusing.  16. Court:  A  form  of  tribunal  with  authorities  with  legal  works.  17. Constitution:  The  book  of  laws.  18. Evidence:  Information  presented  used  to  persuade  the  judge  to  

decide  the  case  in  favor  of  one  of  the  sides.  19. Testify:  The  testament  the  witness  gives.  20. Jury:  A  body  of  people  that  give  the  verdict  in  a  case.  

                                                 

 Expressions:  -Call your next witness. -Defendant will be remanded. -Will the people in the well of the courtroom please stand. -You have exhausted that subject, please move on. -Will the record reflect that the witness has identified the defendant. -State your full name for the record. -Poll the jury. -See if you recognize it. -I direct the jury to disregard the statement that … -Counsel, lay a foundation.      

                         

                             

Stages  of  a  Criminal  Case:   The  Arrest  -­‐  What  leads  to  a  person  being  arrested?  What  is  an  arrest  warrant  and  what  does  it  contain?  A  person  is  arrested  because  of  criminal  activity  or  charges.  they  person  is  judge  by  a  body  of  people  that  work  as  a  justice  system  and  either  the  person  is  set  free  and  declare  not  guilty  or  declare  guilty  and  arrested.  An  arrest  warrant  is  an  authorization  that  gives  the  state  to  arrest  or  give  detention  to  an  individual.   Booking  and  Bond  -­‐  Investigate  the  different  types  of  bonds  and  what  does  a  bondsman  do?  A  bondsman  is  a  person  or  corporation  that  helps  to  pay  the  bail  if  the  person  accused  in  court  is  not  able  to  afford  it.  The  three  main  types  of  bonds  are:  Bills,  notes  and  bonds. The  Arraignment  –  Describe  this  process.  Arraignment  is  the  first  court,  it  reads  criminal  charges  against  the  defendant,  the  criminal  has  a  defense  lawyer,  the  possibility  of  reduce  bail  or  release  the  defendant  on  his  own  good  behavior  and  set  up  dates  for  the  future  proceedings  in  the  case.   Plea  Bargain  –  When  is  a  plea  deal  offered?  What  happens  after  this  is  offered?  Why  can  a  plea  bargain  be  beneficial?  It  is  when  the  prosecutor  offers  the  defendant  the  opportunity  to  plead  guilty  and  this  gives  a  lesser  charge  than  the  original  and  a  recommendation  of  less  time  in  sentence.  It  is  beneficial  to  the  criminal  because  he  gains  less  time  in  prison  and  less  charges.   Preliminary  Hearing  –  What  happens  during  a  preliminary  hearing?  It  is  used  to  determine  whether  there  is  enough  evidence  to  require  a  trial.  During  it  the  court  decides  either  if  there  is  a  probable  cause  and  the  prosecution  will  continue,  if  the  court  thinks  there  is  no  probable  cause  the  prosecution  will  cease.   Pre-­‐trial  Motions  –  What  are  these  and  what  is  their  purpose?  It  is  before  the  criminal  goes  to  trial,  the  prosecutor  and  the  defense  appear  before  the  criminal  court  judge  and  make  a  pre-­‐trial,  with  evidence  that  should  be  kept  out  of  the  trail  and  certain  persons  cannot  testify.   The  Trial  –  Give  a  brief  description  of  the  process  of  a  trial.  (Mention  jury  selection,  opening  statements,  the  presentation  of  the  case,  the  closing  statements  and  the  deliberation  of  the  jury.)  In  a  trial  at  first  12  people  vote  wether  if  the  person  is  guilty  or  innocent,  the  one  that  chooses  innocent  needs  to  give  facts  and  if  everyone  votes  guilty  the  person  goes  to  jail.  This  is  a  process  were  people  give  witnesses  of  the  situation  and  facts  to  make  the  correct  decision.

  Sentencing  –  What  may  you  face  if  found  guilty?  How  does  a  judge  choose  the  sentence  given?  When  being  guilty  you  can  pay  a  debt  or  you  pay  by  being  in  jail,  the  judge  chooses  this  with  the  votes  of  the  juries  and  the  facts.   Appeal  Process  –  Explain  what  this  means.  It  is  a  decision  by  the  trial  to  make  the  decisions  to  a  federal  court.

http://criminal.findlaw.com/crimes/criminal_stages/criminal_pre_trial_motio

ns/  

http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts/UnderstandingtheFederalCourts/Ho

wCourtsWork/TheAppealsProcess.aspx   http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial    

Plot    

 

 

Exposition  Protagonist:  Juror  8  Antagonist:  Juror  3  (juror  10)  Setting-­‐time:  It  happened  in  1950´s.  Context:  Death  penalty  still  existed,  women  and  black  people  had  no  rights,  WWII  was  over.  Setting-­‐Place:  In  a  court  room  in  New  York  City,  America.  Internal  conflict:  Subconscious,  the  juror  8  didn’t  want  to  send  the  kid  to  the  chair.  Quote: NO. 8: There were eleven votes for guilty. It's not so easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first.  External  conflict:  Man  Vs.  Man.  All  the  jurors  were  fighting  and  no  one  supported  juror  8.  Quote: FOREMAN: Nine... ten ... eleven... That's eleven for guilty. Okay. Not guilty? (NO. 8's hand is raised.) One. Right. Okay. Eleven to one, guilty. Now we know where we are.  

 

   

   

         

Rising  Action  1. A  case  of  a  boy  that  facts  said  he  killed  his  own  father  with  a  knife.  2. It  starts  with  the  first  voting  by  the  jury,  the  results  are  11-­‐guilty,  1-­‐not  

guilty.  3. If  the  boy  is  guilty  he  would  be  send  to  the  chair  since  the  punishment  

was  the  death  penalty.  4. Jurors  start  to  give  juror  8  facts  for  him  to  vote  guilty.  5. To  prove  the  innocence  of  the  boy,  they  start  analyzing  the  situation  

and  find  out  that  the  woman  wasn´t  able  to  watch  the  scene  since  she  used  glasses,  the  old  man  couldn’t  move  that  fast  from  his  room  to  the  entrance  of  the  house,  the  knife  couldn’t  be  used  by  a  kid  that  short,  and  the  train  make  too  much  noise  so  she  wasn’t  able  to  hear  when  he  shouted  his  father  I´m  going  to  kill  you.  

 

Climax  The  jury  changes  their  thoughts  about  the  incident  and  the  votes  changes  to  six  guilty  and  six  not  guilty.  

 

Falling  action  1. After  more  discussion  and  arguments  the  votation  changes  to  eleven  not  

guilty  to  one  guilty.  2. The  jury  starts  to  convince  the  other  juries  that  the  old  man  could  be  

telling  the  truth.  3. Almost  all  the  juries  return  to  vote  for  guilty.  

 

Resolution  The  juries  start  to  discuss  again  and  realize  that  the  woman  who  saw  how  the  kid  killed  his  father  used  glasses  and  since  she  didn’t  use  them  at  night  she  wasn’t  able  to  see  what  she  told  the  trial.  The  jury  changes  its  votes  again  to  

eleven  not  guilty,  one  guilty.  The  one  that’s  missing  is  jury  3,  he  takes  his  wallet  out  and  watches  his  picture  with  he´s  sun,  he  starts  crying  and  writes  the  vote  

that  says,  not  guilty.  The  votes  finish  12  not  guilty.  

         

How  are  they  alike?  The  setting  is  in  the  courtroom  in  NYC,  it  was  the  hottest  day  of  the  year  and  there  was  a  police  guarding  the  door.  There  are  12  jurors,  and  it’s  the  same  case,  the  votations  are  the  same  (number  of  guilty  and  not  guilty).    The  same  arguments  are  mention  by  the  jury.  It  has  the  same  story,  the  antagonist  and  the  protagonist  are  the  same,  juror  3  and  juror  8  principally.  It  has  the  same  plot,  the  way  the  story  moves  on  and  the  characters  change  their  opinions  to  not  guilty.    

       

How  are  the  different?  Movie:  The  boy  is  18  years  old.  A  room  with  chairs  and  a  big  table,  there  is  the  lavatory  room  and  a  window,  it  has  air  conditioning  that  functions  almost  until  the  end  on  the  movie.  They  show  the  boy  in  trial  and  after  it  the  jury  starts.  The  movie  is  black  and  white.  The  foreman  has  black  skin.  When  you  watch  the  climax  and  turning  point  you  feel  the  action.    Book:  The  boy  is  16  years  old.  A  small  room,  with  a  big  tables  with  chairs  and  the  window  has  an  amazing  view,  the  door  is  near  the  lavatory  room  where  the  jurors  wash  their  hands.  They  never  show  the  boy,  the  book  starts  with  the  jury  and  the  trial  never  appears.  I  had  to  imagine  how  the  climax  was  and  the  turning  point  and  continue  reading  to  see  the  resolution.    

Authors  theme:  Prejudice,  Reading  this  book  teaches  me  that  before  accusing  someone  about  something  we  need  to  have  full  facts  and  the  correct  evidence,  because  that  person  might  be  innocent  and  accused  without  enough  profs.    And  never  judge  someone  because  of  their  background  or  the  way  they  lived,  they  can  be  different.  

 

 Which  version  do  you  prefer?  Why?  

I  prefer  the  movie  version  because  I  prefer  to  watch  and  understand  how  characters  are  by  their  actions  instead  of  them  being  described  with  words  and  I  have  to  use  my  own  imagination.  In  the  movie  you  can  live  what’s  happening  and  in  the  tension  moments  you  get  the  feeling  and  get  nervous,  sad,  or  happy.  I  think  reading  gets  boring  and  the  movie  always  has  something  that  gets  you  into  it,  it’s  faster  and  you  get  all  the  ideas  more  clear.                                  

 

Juror  8  

Physical  Description:  Juror  8  is  a  tall  man,  with  black  hair  pushed  back,  skinny,  he  uses  a  white  suit  with  a  black  tie,  he’s  a  very  serious  person,  middle  aged,  innocent  face,  he  is  elegant  and  looks  calm  down.    

Direct/Indirect  Characterization:  -­‐He  is  distractive.  *FOREMAN: (to NO. 8). How about sitting down? (NO. 8 doesn't hear him.) The gentleman at the window. [NO 8 turns, startled.] -­‐He´s  a  gentleman  and  tries  to  work  thing  out  in  a  mature  way.  *[He lunges at NO. 8, but is caught by two of the jurors and held. He struggles as NO. 8 watches calmly.] -­‐He  gives  proves  to  convince  the  other  jurors  the  guy  might  not  be  guilty.  *[NO. 8 picks the knife out of the table and closes it. He flicks it open, and changing its position in his hand, stabs downward with it.] -  He  is  pissed  off. *NO. 8 stands up and snatches the paper away. -­‐He  is  an  architect,  he  believes  in  justice  and  want  enough  proves  before  making  any  kind  of  decision.

Thoughts,  actions,  words:  -­‐All  the  jurors  quickly  voted  guilty,  without  discussing  it  first,  he  thought  it  was  better  if  they  could  talk  about  it  before  making  a  decision.  *NO. 8: There were eleven votes for guilty. It's not so easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first. -At the beginning of the story he isn’t sure about his decision, guilty or not guilty. *NO. 3: (sarcastically) Somebody's in left field. (To NO. 8) You think he's not guilty? NO. 8: (quietly). I don't know. -­‐In  order  to  prove  his  points  he  act  and  talk  about  all  the  scenes  from  the  night  of  the  murder.  *NO. 8: His bed was at the window. It's (looking closer) twelve feet from his bed to the bedroom door. The length of the hall is forty-three feet, six inches. He had to get up out of bed, get his canes, walk twelve feet, open the bedroom door, walk forty-three feet, and open the front door—all in fifteen seconds. Do you think this possible? -­‐He  doesn’t  get  influenced  by  other  peoples  opinion.  -­‐He  doesn’t  prejudice  anyone  before  having  enough  evidence  to  prove  what  he  is  talking  about.  -­‐He  is  a  just  man,  with  moral  and  ethics.  He  has  values.  -­‐He  is  intelligent  and  wants  to  know  the  truth.  

Other  feeling,  thoughts,  words  toward  him:  -­‐At  the  beginning  he  standed  alone,  nobody  was  in  agreement  with  him  and  all  the  jurors  thought  he  was  incorrect.  *NO. 3: I never saw a guiltier man in my life. You sat right in court and heard the same thing I did. The man's a dangerous killer. You could see it.  -­‐As  the  story  pass  by  they  start  to  believe  in  what  he  says  and  to  be  in  agreement  with  him,  they  start  to  talk  about  the  facts  and  they  begin  to  understand  the  reasons  why  juror  8  saiid  the  guy  is  not  guilty.  * NO. 9: Thank you. (Pointing at NO. 8) This gentleman chose to stand alone against us. That's his right. It takes a great deal of courage to stand alone even if you believe in something very strongly. He left the verdict up to us. He gambled for support, and I gave it to him. I want to hear more. The vote is ten to two. -­‐Juror  3  still  don’t  agree  with  him  and  start  to  offend,  with  words  and  actions.  * NO. 3: You're crazy. Why would he lie? What's he got to gain? * NO. 3: (pleading). Listen. What's the matter with you? You're the guy. You made all the arguments. You can't turn now. A guilty man's gonna be walking the streets. A murderer. He's got to die! Stay with me. -Jurors start to realize if they don’t act like mature adults they are going to take away the life of a young innocent man, juror 8 changed their way of thinking and all the juror agreed the boy was not guilty since they don’t have enough proves to kill him