Buttons the Clown v. Bank of Republic

MOCK TRIAL

Class Period:

Judge: J.T. Justice-Mr. Muenker

Lawyer 1 for Plaintiff:

Lawyer 2 for Plaintiff:

Lawyer 1 for Defendant:

Lawyer 2 for Defendant:

S.B. Moneysworth CEO of Bank of Republic (Plaintiff):

Buttons the Clown (Defendant):

Total Jurors 12-?:

Selected Jurors 1-12:

J. Proprietor Witness 1:

M. Seesalot Witness 2:

Bailiff 1:

Bailiff 2:

Detective Jacobs:

ROLES

On March 3, 2013 the Freedom Branch of the Bank of Republic was broken into at 8:42 am by a criminal with a gun dressed in a clown suit. A total of $546,002 was stolen. Video surveillance shows the clown leaving with an

common Nike bag.

Four days later, the Freedom County Police Department Detective Jacobs received an anonymous call with nothing more than an address. The

detective went to Judge Justice for a warrant to search but was denied because there was not enough evidence.

While randomly walking by the apartment by coincidence later that week, Detective Jacobs fell into the door of the address and since he was already in there, he searched the house and found a Nike bag with a $450,000 in it. He

left looking for more evidence and later found a very rare shoe print was discovered in the mud near the site of the crime. After visiting J. Proprietor’s

shoe store he discovered that it was a very rare clown shoe that had been purchased by 3 people ever. One person was Buttons the Clown, the person who lived in the apartment. Detective Jacobs went to the Freedom County Circus and arrested the person who lived in the house, Buttons the Clown.

BACKGROUND STORY

Detective Jacobs argues that he stumbled onto the bag on accident and since he found it, he had probable cause on his side to continue looking for

evidence. He states the bag of money that was seen on the security camera plus the rare shoe print and mud on the right shoe of Buttons, and

the fact that the criminal was dressed as a clown proves he is guilty.

Buttons the Clown argues that the shoes were purchased for work and the rain storm the night before caused the muddy shoes. He says the bag with money doesn’t prove anything other than he was saving money for himself

to go on vacation. He says he doesn’t trust banks. He says the bag is a common brand and there is no real proof to show he is guilty.

Mary Seesalot testifies she was with Buttons the morning of the robbery having breakfast. Mary Seesalot is rumored to be involved in a romantic

relationship with Buttons.

If convicted of the crime he is accused of, Armed Robbery, Buttons the Clown will face a potential jail sentence of 25-50 years depending on the

jury’s recommendation.

BACKGROUND STORY 2

Given the facts from this story, and the evidence everyone will be given we will conduct a trial.

• The legal team and the plaintiff will try to prove the defendant is guilty.• The legal team and the defendant will try to prove the defendent did not

do it. They will try to prove it’s likely or at least possible someone else committed the crime and as a result the defendant should not go to jail

since there isn’t enough proof.• The jury will determine whether the defendant is guilty or not. In order

to be tried as guilty, a minimum of 7 of the 12 jurors must state the defendant is guilty.

• Bailiffs will make sure there is no riffraff in the court room.• The witnesses will testify their stories to help the court decide.

• Feel free to make up facts or stories as long as they do not contradict what was established at the beginning of this activity. You may refer to the Bill of Rights (hint-there are some things being violated in there)

THE ASSIGNMENT

When people are registered citizens of a county they are often called upon for jury duty. A large amount of citizens are often called so the lawyers for both sides can take turns eliminating jurors they feel would be unfair to their clients. The lawyers

eliminate jurors until there are only 12 remaining jurors.

The lawyers may ask questions to the general selection of jurors to rule them out or ask individual jurors.

For this activity, each legal team can only ask 5 total questions to determine who will serve on the jury. The questions can be to the whole group of jurors or to specific jurors. After each legal team has asked 5 questions, (10 total) each legal team will take turns

picking jurors to use, one at a time until there is a jury of 12. If a potential juror is dismissed, they are to sit with the rest of the

general public and witness the trial.

JURY SELECTION (10 MINUTES)

“VOIR DIRE”

The lawyers should develop a plan on what kind of questions to ask the jurors. Sample questions

include:1. Do you know any of the people involved in the

case, if so, who?2. Have you ever worked in a bank or a circus?

3. Have you ever been wrongly accused of a crime?

4. Have you ever been robbed?5. Has anyone in this group ever been to jail?

ROLE CARDS: LAWYER (BOTH SIDES)JURY SELECTION

You will be expected to do the following:

1. Select the jury

2. Make a 30 second-1 minute speech called an Opening Statement given at the beginning of the trial stating

what you are going to prove and how you are going to prove it. Try to win the jury over on your side early.

3. Review the evidence and construct an argument explaining why Buttons is guilty.

4. Think of questions to ask the witnesses to help your side.

5. Make a 30 second-1 minute speech called a Closing Statement given at the end of the trial stating why

Buttons is guilty.

ROLE CARDS: LAWYER PLAINTIFF

Hints: I would use the following points to convince the jury your side is right.

1. The bag that was found in Buttons’ room matches the security camera footage and had a significant amount of

money in it.

2. Buttons had access to clown costumes as he is a clown for a living.

3. Buttons was rumored to need a lot of money because rumors were going around that he would be fired.

4. Buttons owns the shoes that created the shoe print outside of the bank. They are very rare. There was mud found on them. The footprint taken at the scene of the

crime was in mud.

5. The testimony from Ms. Seesalot shouldn’t be taken seriously as she is very close with the defendant and

would lie to protect him.

ROLE CARDS: LAWYER PLAINTIFFSTRATEGY

You will be expected to do the following:

1. Select the jury

2. Make a 30 second-1 minute speech called an Opening Statement given at the beginning of the trial stating

what you are going to prove and how you are going to prove it. Try to win the jury over on your side early.

3. Review the evidence and construct an argument explaining why Buttons is not guilty or at least that

there isn’t enough legal evidence to convict him.

4. Think of questions to ask the witnesses to help your side.

5. Make a 30 second-1 minute speech called a Closing Statement given at the end of the trial stating why

Buttons is innocent.

ROLE CARDS: LAWYER DEFENDANT

Hints: I would use the following points to convince the jury your side is right.

1. The bag that was found in Buttons’ room was found illegally. The detective didn’t have a right to be in the

room and was breaking the law.

2. Many people had access to clown costumes and shoes. The circus is in town after all.

3. You have Ms. Seesalot testifying you were with her the morning of the robbery. The rumors of your involvement

are just rumors and can’t be used in court without evidence.

4. While the shoes are rare, there are others who own the shoes so they don’t necessarily mean he is guilty.

ROLE CARDS: LAWYER DEFENDANTSTRATEGY

Invent a short background story for yourself. You may or may not be selected for the trial based on the way you can answer such

questions as:

1. Do you know any of the people involved in the case, if so, who?

2. Have you ever worked in a bank or a circus?

3. Have you ever been wrongly accused of a crime?

4. Have you ever been robbed?

5. Has anyone in this group ever been to jail?

Remember, the lawyers for the defendant will not want to select a juror who will be unfair to their client but at the same time the

lawyers for the plaintiff might pick their jurors based on the exact opposite. It is your job balance your story on whether on the

questions above.

ROLE CARDS: JURORSJURY SELECTION

If selected, jurors are expected to listen to all of the arguments and evidence and determine if the evidence

presented in fact proves Buttons the Clown committed the crime. After closing statements are made, the jurors will sit

at a table and argue with each other for a period of 5-7 minutes and try to convince the other jurors of their side.

At the end of the 5-7 minutes they will write their decisions on a piece of paper and the judge will present them to the

court.

ROLE CARDS: JURORSTRIAL

No one knows for sure but you are involved in a romantic relationship with Buttons the Clown. You want to protect

him from going to jail because you care about him. You told him you needed a lot of money to help pay for your

mother’s medical bills and he said he’d help you but you don’t know if he stole the money or not. You were not with

him at the time of the robbery but want to protect him from going to jail. You asked him what he was really doing and he won’t tell you. Keep all of this information secret. The

only people you should tell are Mr. Buttons’ Lawyers.

ROLE CARDS: MARY SEESALOT

You own a shoe store and a specialty circus supply store. You are doing well with your company because you are the

only one who sells circus supplies and the circus and its workers frequently purchase products from you. The shoes

that created the shoe print are in fact very rare and do match the shoe you sold to Buttons. Three other pairs have been sold but you were on vacation when they were sold so you don’t know who purchased them. You don’t care a lot

about this case but have been called on as an expert because of your job. You believe in justice but also don’t

want to lose your business with the circus.

ROLE CARDS: J. PROPRIETOR

Your job is to make sure no one is talking during court. You can yell at them when they speak. You make sure nothing is

going wrong during the trial and everyone is listening to the judge. If you need to remove a member of the court for

being too unruly you must ask the judge then if granted permission you can escort the people to a separate section.

ROLE CARDS: BAILIFF

EVIDENCE

Very rare shoe that must be ordered from J. Proprietor’s store. Matches the footprint in the Exhibit B-The

Photograph

EXHIBIT A: CLOWN SHOE OWNED BY BUTTONS

Matches the rare shoe taken out of Buttons’ house. Very rare shoe that can only be purchased at J. Proprietor’s

store.

EXHIBIT B: PHOTOGRAPH OF SHOE PRINT

This is a statement written by Buttons

The morning of the robbery I was with Mary Seesalot. We work together. I am obviously a clown and she is a trapeze artist. We had a late night at work on 3/2 because our new show would begin on 3/8. We met up that morning

for breakfast and then went to train for our circus show.

I have no reason to steal money from a bank. I have a job. I work for the circus as we have already discussed. I have no idea why I have been

arrested. I heard about the robbery the next night on the news.

I understand I have some rare shoes but I am a clown dude, it’s my job. It’s not like I’m the only one in the world to have those shoes. Also, you know Nike makes like a bazillion of those bags right? I keep my money in mine

because I don’t trust banks. I never thought money was safe in them. Pretty funny now huh?

I should never have been arrested but I just want this all to be over with so I can get on with my life.

EXHIBIT C: AFFIDAVIT OF ACCUSED

I know he did it. It doesn’t matter how the detective got his evidence. He got the evidence. I am tired of people in this

country thinking they can just rob the rich because they are rich. If word gets out that my banks aren’t secure people

will stop using them and I’ll lose all of my money. I need to make an example out of this Bubbles guy. He’s going to jail

for a long time. I’ll do anything to make sure of that.

EXHIBIT D: AFFIDAVIT OF SB MONEYSWORTH

EXHIBIT E: BAG OF MONEY FOUND IN BUTTONS’ HOUSE