Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: Fact find

25 minutes

Find Out: Research responsibilities

20 minutes

Take Action: Mock trial

10 minutes

Reflection

Tune In: Fact find

Step 1

Assign each student to 'play' one of the following parties in a criminal trial:

judge
jury members (minimum of two)
prosecution
defence
the accused/defendant.

Students should be reminded that the above does not represent all persons who may be present during a criminal trial nor does the below represent one in its entirety (certain aspects have been omitted and processes have been shifted due to time constraints).

Step 2

Explain that students will be working towards conducting a mock trial.

You might like for students to work in groups of six, meaning you will need to run several mock trials and will need more time if you want them to observe each other. Otherwise, you could have only one student (or several students at once) playing each role and only conduct a single mock trial.

Step 3

Once the class is assigned to play one of the above parts, distribute the Student Worksheet to the class and instruct them to read the scenario (also below) and highlight key facts that they think will be relevant to a trial.

This is a FICTIONAL example and does not represent any actual person or event.

Mr Brown is a 35-year-old father of four who runs a soup kitchen in Melbourne’s CBD. A well-respected member of the community, Mr Brown spends most of his time in and around the city working at his soup kitchen at all hours of the day and night. On New Year's day 2020, Mr Brown was working alone in the office of the soup kitchen until 2 am after all his patrons had left and began to walk home. Unbeknownst to those who knew him, Mr Brown was a habitual drug user who also drank excessively. On the night in question, CBD security cameras identified Mr Brown stumbling along an alley, yelling unintelligibly in a drug and alcohol-induced state. He is shown approaching one of his patrons, a homeless man named Mr Smith, who also appeared intoxicated. Mr Brown begins to antagonise him and Mr Smith tries to calm him down and calls for help, to no avail. The two men begin to scuffle and Mr Brown delivers a deafening blow to Mr Smith’s head - Mr Smith stumbles back, falling and hitting his head on the concrete. Mr Brown, visibly shocked, stands frozen for a few minutes before abandoning Mr Smith in the alley. Mr Brown then went straight home, disposed of the clothes he was wearing (now stained with Mr Smith’s blood) and convinced his wife into providing him with an alibi - that he had got home just after midnight that New Year’s Eve.

At 6 am New Year's Day 2020, Mr Smith was discovered dead in the alley. The coroner was able to determine that he had died due to his head injury. A resident of an apartment complex overlooking the alley also gave a statement to police that morning, saying:

“[M Brown] was out of his mind, accusing the man of stealing from him and yelling loud enough for the whole city to hear. At one point he [Mr Brown] said ‘I can get away with anything’ and ‘they’re not going to lock up someone like me’.”

Mr Brown was arrested later that day and formally charged pursuant to Victoria’s ‘coward punch’ law - Crimes Act 1958 - Sect 4A ‘Manslaughter - single punch of strike taken to be a dangerous act’. Despite this being the first offence with which he has ever been charged, Mr Brown has since demonstrated no remorse for his actions and has continued to proclaim his innocence whilst in custody.

Find Out: Research responsibilities

Step 1

Invite students to locate the below script on the Student Worksheet.

Step 2

Place student groups and invite them to research their respective roles and responsibilities so they can fill in the gaps in the script and choose the appropriate option of two choices (the correct answers are highlighted below in ORANGE. Incorrect responses are highlighted below in PURPLE.).

Explain to students that the following does not represent a full criminal trial due to time constraints, but it will give them some idea of how the proceedings work.

Note: This task will involve both research and reading comprehension as some of the answers will require external research whilst some can be found in the scenario.

Judge: Mr ______(Brown), you have been charged with __ (manslaughter) pursuant to section __ (4A) of the ______ (Crimes) Act. How do you plead?

The accused Mr ______ (Brown): Not guilty, your ______(honour).

Judge: Before this trial commences, I’d like to remind the jury that their core responsibility in this trial is to follow the rules of evidence and procedure/lawyers' instructions and determine a __________ (verdict).

Judge: Prosecutors, you may now begin with __________ (opening) statements.

Prosecution: On ______ (New Year’s Day 2020), the __ (defendant), Mr Brown brutally killed the __ (victim) in this case, Mr Smith. There are several aggravating factors at play in this case, that is those facts that will operate to increase/lessen the __ (defendant’s) culpability in this case. These include the fact that Mr __ (Brown) abandoned Mr __ (Smith) as he clung to life, has since shown no/some remorse for this crime, lied about his __ (alibi) and that he tried to dispose of evidence/his bloody clothes that directly linked him to the crime. The defence/jury will try to convince you that Mr Brown is an upstanding citizen who only committed this crime due to the influence of __ (drugs) and __ (alcohol). The state/defence feels differently and urges the __ (jury) to deliver a verdict of ______ (guilty).

Judge: __________ (Defence), you may now proceed.

Defence: You’ve heard from the ______ (prosecution) whose job is to represent the interests of the __ (state). However, our client poses no risk to society/the defendant and as such should not be convicted/be convicted. There are several mitigating factors at play in this case, that is those facts that will operate to lessen/increase our client’s __ (culpability) in this case. These include the fact that our client has strong/weak ties to the community, is a __ (father) of four and does not have a ______ (criminal) record.

Jury member #1: How can you defend him? He’s killed a defenceless man in cold blood!

Judge: Silence in my courtroom! The jury should be reminded that they are __________ (not) permitted to speak unless directed by a judge/lawyer.

Jury member #2: I don’t care, I looked him up online - he looks guilty as sin!

Judge: Silence! I must remind the jury that their role is to pay no attention/attention to anything other than the __________ (facts) of the case. They are not permitted/permitted to conduct their own research.

Prosecution and defence make their arguments and question their witnesses

Judge: Now that we’ve heard from both parties I invite the prosecution to make their __________ (closing) statement.

Prosecution: Ladies and gentlemen of the ______ (jury), we believe we have proven the defendant’s guilt/innocence to the criminal standard of proof: __ (beyond reasonable doubt). This means that you must be so certain of the __ (defendant’s) guilt that it would be unreasonable for you to return a __ (verdict) of not guilty. We ask you to do so, so that we can achieve justice for the ______ (victim), Mr Smith, in this case.

Judge: Defence, please proceed with your __________ (closing) statement.

Defence: Ladies and gentlemen of the ______ (jury) we ask you to consider all the evidence/hearsay in this case and return a verdict of __ (not guilty). The evidence is not sufficient to meet the criminal standard of proof/burden of proof so we ask you to find the ______ (defendant) not guilty.

Jury deliberation (invite this time to weigh the evidence detailed in the scenario and determine a verdict)

Jury: ______ (foreperson), has the jury reached a ______(verdict)?

Jury: We find the ______ (defendant) guilty/not guilty (students to decide) of the __ (crime) of ______ (manslaughter).

Take Action: Mock trial

Step 1

Once students have completed their scripts, they can conduct the mock trial, either in groups of six or as a whole class.

Monitor and support the proceedings, ensuring that all students have an opportunity to contribute to the jury deliberation.

Reflection

Have students sit in a discussion circle and invite them to share their thoughts about the mock trial proceedings. You could use these prompts:

What went well?
What didn't go so well?
What was interesting about this process?
What would you do differently?
Did you agree with the verdict? Why/why not?
Do you think the criminal trial process is fair?

Differentiated learning

Extension

In Part B, you could have students extend the script to provide the opportunity for witnesses and experts to be questioned and evidence to be presented.

Provisions for learning support

In Part A, you might like to have students share any facts found in the scenario and list them under either DEFENCE or PROSECUTION arguments on the board. This will help them prepare for their arguments and deliberations in Part C.

Coward Punch - You Be The Judge

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Success criteria:

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