MOCK TRIAL

Malsert Helose : defendant

Mansouri Soukana : witness
Louter Mirana : defense lawyer
Lorin Audrey : judge
Maddalena Maeva : prosecutor

Maeva :
The following case concerns Mrs Malsert who is sued for killing her husband, Mr
Malsert. Honourable Judge Lorin presiding the criminal court of Lyon.
Audrey :
Mrs Malsert, you are here because you are accused of murder. To sum up the
case, after a violent argument with her husband, Mrs Mansouri called the police
and when the policemen arrived on the scene, they found her husbands bloody
body on the floor. You can develop a bit more.
Mrs Mansouri, please come to the stand. Do you swear to tell the truth, whole
truth, and nothing but the truth? Please raise your right hand.
Helose :
I do.
I met my husband ten years ago. At first, everything seemed perfect. But, he
started to drink and he has become increasingly violent. It was only insults and
verbal harassment in the beginning. Then, he began to hit me when he was
drunk, but in the end it turned into a routine each time I disagreed or did
something he didnt like. And then came the day when we had our most violent
argument. I was in the kitchen cutting a zucchini with my kitchen knife when he
came back home angry. Since the dinner had not been ready yet, he got angry
and yelled at me. He began to pull out my hair and bang my head against the
wall. Thats why I understood that I couldnt tolerate this anymore. To protect
myself, I stabbed him in the stomach with my kitchen knife.
Audrey :
Prosecutor, do you have any questions for Mrs Malsert ?
Maeva :
Yes your honour. Why didnt go to the police to report Mr Malsert after the first
fight?

Heloise :
Because he promised to never do it again, that it was the last time.
Maeva :
Did you still love him ?
Mirana :
Objection your honour, irrelevant! My client shouldnt answer this question.
Audrey :
Objection overruled.
Helose :
Yes, I was still in love with him, inspite of everything.
Audrey :
Mrs Louter, we are listening to you.
Mirana :
First of all, respect is the basis of a harmonious, joyful and peaceful marriage,
fundamental to preventing domestic violence.
In virtue of the article 212 (two hundred and twelve) of the civil Code wife and
husband owe each other respect, fidelity, help and assistance . Mr Malsert didnt
respect the given wows. Indeed, he was constantly harassing her and beating her
up.
Yet, according to the penal code, even harassment is a penal crime, a kind of
moral violence that makes it impossible for the victim to have a normal life. Then,
Mr Malsert began to hit his wife when he was drunk, but at the end it became a
habit and he hit her every day, during 10 years ! He also threatened to kill her
during every dispute !
According to the facts, she hit him once, only that one time, with what she had in
her hand; in this case, it was a knife. It caused his death because it was a knife !
But it could have been another thing, other than a knife ! Furthermore, she hit
him to protect and save herself, and not to die ! She never wanted to kill her
husband ! She just wanted him stop hitting her. Your Honour, put yourself in Mrs
Malserts place. Imagine yourself, victim of your husbands psychological and
physicals violence during hours and hours, for these long years ! And one day,
you feel that your body wont bear it anymore and if you dont act, you will die
immediately. So, to defend yourself, you strike a blow. Know that a women dies
every day because of their husbands violence.
Finally, I know that we dont resolve violence by violence, Mrs Malsert agrees with
that too. And as murder is serious, forbidden and have to be punished, Mrs
Malsert did this to protect herself and not die, she was in a life-threatening
position.

As a result of all that, I proclaim it was self-defence and I urge you, members of
the jury, to find the defendant not guilty .

Maeva :
But you dont have any evidence that it was really self-defence, maybe it was just
to revenge herself.
Mirana :
May I present some evidence Your Honour? More precisely, a testimony. May I call
my witness Soukana Mansouri to the stand?
Soukaina :
My name is Soukaina Mansouri and Im the neighbour of Mr and Mrs Malsert. I
lived in the residence before they moved in. For 10 years, I have been hearing
screaming and noises across the walls. Moreover, I have seen bruises on her face.
That day, I heard louder noises than usually. And I alerted the authorities.
Maeva :
Why didnt you call the police before ?
Soukaina :
She told me to keep it a secret, that she was fine and that I didnt have to worry.
Maeva :
But you are not an idiot, you should have known that she was lying.
Soukaina :
I have never seen something, I just heard noises. Moreover, its difficult to get
involved in private life of someone.
Mirana :
Thanks to this testimony, the jury can realise Mrs Malsert had just defend and
protect herself. In spite of that, she didnt planned to kill him.

Juge should ask if she has more questions

Maeva :
No further questions your honour.

Audrey :
Prosecutor, what is your position ?
He needs to explain why he believes she is guilty and not to pronounce her guilty
or not.thats the job of the jury!

Maeva :
In the name of the Government, Mrs Malsert is guilty for murdering her husband.
She should be sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.
Audrey : Thank you Prosecutor.
Mrs Malsert, you know why youre here. You killed your husband. He was an
alcoholic and really violent man, we all understood this fact. However, you cannot
kill someone because you were afraid of him. I know that its hard to live with
someone like he was, but you could have found another alternatives to protect
your life from him.
Considering all the elements that have been said today, I find you guilty of the
murder of your husband, Mr Malsert, but I recognize the legitimacy of selfdefence. Thats why I sentence you to 3 years imprisonment including a
psychological monitoring for 5 years.