It’s the start of the of a new semester and Professor Griswold has a few tricks up his sleeve. His first idea was putting this particular group of eight students together to compete for a grand prize. Now, he plans to have some fun with it. Two sides will be established, the Prosecutor and the Defense. The winners get points towards the final competition.
For our first event, we are about to put on the messiest mock trial. Professor Griswold is having The Love Club act out what a trial will look like, each student with a different role. We will be writing the characters portraying their roles in the trial, however there will be times they break out of the role as the drama ensues. They are able to ask questions to the professor, or critique their classmates performances at any time. This will be a fight both in their specific role and in their normal character.
𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔’𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐓.
In today’s lecture, Professor Griswold had passed out folders to each student and inside it contains a case summary, approved evidence that each side can use to show the judge, and a list of roles.
𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: Oxford real estate developer Philip Fontaine was found dead in his home in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 11, 2021.
Fontaine's young wife, Ashley, found his body in a dried up, pool of blood on the kitchen floor around 1:00 a.m. Both Mrs. Fontaine and her stepson Grant reportedly arrived home minutes before the 911 call was made.
Now, in September 2022, the case is about to come to trial, and the defense claims to have evidence exonerating the accused and implicating another suspect.
The night of the murder, Emergency Services received a 911 call reporting a man found dead on his kitchen floor. When sheriff's officers arrived at the location, they found a gruesome scene.
After examining the scene, Detective Armstrong talked to the victim's wife, Ashley Fontaine, who found the body and called 911.
Then the detective tried to get some sense out of the victim's son, Grant Fontaine, about what he'd been doing the night his father was killed.
After the sun came up, as a local news crew was reporting from the scene, Detective Armstrong got more information about the victim.
Later, while the detective reviewed a preliminary list of evidence collected at the scene, the Oxford Weekly Planet published their coverage of the murder.
That same morning, the Fontaines' housekeeper, Stacy McCracken, came in to meet with Detective Armstrong. This is where he learned that Philip had a girlfriend.
After lunch, the detective sat down with Mr. Fontaines' girlfriend, Raquel Santos, and revealed that Philip had been having arguments with his business partner, Josie Beecher.
𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄:
003419-01: One (1) .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol SN X-XXX-XXX
003419-02: One (1) expended cartridge (shell casing) .25 cal.
003419-03: One (1) apparently damaged bullet, .25 cal.
003419-04: One (1) set of kitchen knives and hardwood storage block
003419-05: One (1) set of keys, containing five keys
003419-06: One (1) checkbook containing checks from the BancorpSouth
003419-07: One (1) walking cane
003419-08: One (1) leather satchel-style briefcase
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒:
003419-08-01: One (1) date and address book, leather
003419-08-02: One (1) silver flask, empty
003419-08-03: Three (3) copies of housing development blueprints
003419-08-04: One (1) cellular telephone
003419-08-05: One (1) letter from Javier Montoya, attorney
003419-08-06: One (1) letter from Gerald Archer, vice president BancorpSouth
003419-08-07: One (1) partial copy of Visa credit card receipt, Ole Miss Motel, Oxford, MS.
003419-08-08: One (1) copy of Visa credit card receipt, Bennington Jewelers, Oxford, MS.
003419-09: One (1) folding knife, mother of pearl handle
003419-10: One (1) American Express bill
003419-11: One (1) chef's knife, wood handle with reddish stains on blade
𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓:
𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝟏 ––– 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒇:
Vera Myeong as The Prosecutor
Theodore DuPonts as Detective Armstrong
Isabel Astor as Stacy McCracken (the victim’s housekeeper)
Desirae Hart as Raquel Santos (the victim’s girlfriend)
𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝟐 ––– 𝑫𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆:
Nicolás Bouiette as The Defense Attorney
Céline Bouiette as Ashley Fontaine (the victim’s wife and the defendant)
Ezra Fike as Grant Fontaine (the victim’s son)
Kamile Yener as Josie Beecher (the victim’s business partner)
Only the murderer knows the truth. On the day the event starts, we will be messaging each of you blurbs for your character and in character Griswold will be passing them out to the students in envelopes. It will give you a sense of how to go about the trial, but you may take it anywhere you would like. The crazier the better. At the end, we will be taking a vote to see which side was the most persuasive. In the classroom, Griswold, as the judge, will announce the winner and award them with extra points that goes towards the final competition.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to either one of us and we will be happy to help!
thanks for being 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 throughout us planning this event! we’ll be starting the mock trial now, and it will last until it is 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 ! we understand everyone can’t be on 𝒂𝒍𝒍 the time so we expect the event to last a 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔. we’ll be sending all your 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 on discord, alongside all the 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 details. you can 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 threads on the dash throughout the event, as well as having your character 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 from their roles to comment on how the mock trial is going.
this will be our 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 time using 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒅 as an actual character, so feel free to include him in 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 and such 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 !
send any 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 or 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 to either admin throughout the event. we want everyone on the 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆 so don’t feel bad coming to either of us. we’re all here to have 𝒇𝒖𝒏 and 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅-𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅. super excited for the drama, besties! 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 a link to the previous post if you need a refresher and 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 the google doc that our 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 diana made to help out with any law 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 or 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒆.
