Reaction to the Verdict

These past two weeks in and out of class have been filled with nerves and excitement alike. The Mark Twain trial has been an extremely thrilling experience; one that I thoroughly enjoyed, and one that I can truly look back on and say, “I don’t regret anything.” From the day I discovered that I would be joining the group of four people in charge of prosecuting Twain, I knew it would be a difficult task. This entire unit, throughout the reading of this book, we have been focusing on the use of satire. Thus, as a class, we all were led toward the realization that the presentation of this book in a heavily sarcastic way emphasized Twain’s abolitionist ideals. So from the beginning, I was fully aware of the research, preparation, and overall understanding of the book I would need in order to pursue the prosecuting side of the argument. I knew that in order to attempt to show a jury that Twain was racist, I would have to know what they were thinking, know where the defense would most likely be coming from, and develop ways to refute that.

I believe that the first day of the trial went extremely well for the prosecution. We seemed very well prepared, and it was evident that we had all prepped our witnesses. Not only did we come up with a good line of questioning, but we each tried to use every opportunity to link each witness’ testimony to the racism found in the book, and within the mind of Mark Twain himself. On that day, I could tell that the defense was not planning on the approach we took, which was our main goal. They hadn’t developed a tactic based on the direction we took with our witnesses, which was that the people they were in the book were not true to whom they were as a person, and were therefore an exaggeration. The questions the defense developed on that first day were clearly headed toward using our witnesses specifically for their planned purpose, and when that backfired, it seemed that we had cornered them. However, the second day of the trial seemed to go much more smoothly for the defense. They knew our strategy, and they were able to contest our witness’ testimony, as well as develop a strong idea of their own through the direct examination of their witnesses. We, the prosecution, tried to counter their questions with our cross examination, with varying degrees of success. The third day I believe was the major turning point in the case. The testimony of Mark Twain, and the back-and-forth questioning really took off, providing a major and very necessary source of information for the jury to consider. I personally believe that Christina did a fantastic job with her portrayal of Twain, and was able to really bring forth the idea that the defense had been focusing on. She was very difficult, if not impossible, to trick on cross examination, and held steady to the angle she took on Mark Twain.

In our closing argument, Dana did an excellent job with summarizing the ideas we had been trying to prove throughout our entire case. She even elaborated on some things that myself and the other lawyers hinted at, such as the credibility of the Duke and Huck Finn. She clearly stated our view, and it seemed at the time to have made quite an impact on the jury. When the jury began to deliberate, they focused a lot on the credibility of witnesses. However, a few minutes in to the discussion, it seemed as though the jury turned from the trial, and the testimony and evidence we presented, and focused on the book instead. This disappointed me, because many jurors began to discuss things beyond the scope of the trial, including discussions we’d had in class prior to the case. At this point, I had a feeling things would just go downhill, and they did. I am not blaming the jury for making any incorrect decisions, and I understand where they came from with their decision. I just do not agree with it. I believe that the case, as presented through our evidence and questioning, favored the prosecution. With the acceptance that I may be biased, I am not arguing with the verdict. On the contrary, I knew from the beginning that “not guilty” would be the most likely outcome of the trial.

Altogether, looking back on the trial as a whole, I found that this was my favorite assignment in the class so far. Having some background with law, and with mock trial, I felt that I was very comfortable questioning witnesses, and developing strategies. I was very excited when I learned that we would be doing a mock trial, and this week went above and beyond any expectation I may have had. I am very glad to have had this experience, and I believe that even though the verdict did not go our way, we argued our point the best that we could, and had fun while doing so.