1. Of Mice and Men Mock Trial
An 8th Grade English Tradition!

2. George Trial The State of California vs. George Milton
George Milton was taken into custody by the Salinas Sheriff’s Department and questioned about the death of Lennie Small. George confessed to the murder, but denied that the act was premeditated and malicious. After reviewing the evidence, the state of California charged George Milton with the first-degree murder of Lennie Small.

3. George Trial Murder in the First Degree means either:
the malicious and premeditated killing of another human being OR
a homicide that occurs in the process of some other crime, such as burglary or rape

4. George Trial Your team’s job is to DEFEND GEORGE in this case.
That means you must prove that George DID NOT want to harm Lennie maliciously and that the murder was NOT planned in advance.

5. Lennie Trial The State of California vs. Lennie Small
Lennie Small was taken into custody by the Salinas Sheriff’s Department and questioned about the death of Curley’s wife. He confessed to causing the death of Curley’s wife, but he maintains that he didn’t mean to cause bodily harm and certainly not the death of the victim. After examination by the state medical authorities, Lennie Small was deemed able to stand trial for the crime of voluntary manslaughter.

6. Lennie Trial Voluntary Manslaughter means either:
the defendant intended to do bodily harm but not cause death OR
the victim gave the defendant good cause for anger

7. Lennie Trial Your team’s job is to PROSECUTE LENNIE in this case.
That means you must prove that Lennie
INTENDED to hurt Curley’s wife.

8. Key Points to Remember…
Lennie cannot take the stand in his trial because he doesn’t understand and can’t talk about what happened in the barn.
He cannot plead insanity because we cannot prove he is insane without a psychiatric evaluation.
George pleads the 5th Amendment during CROSS EXAMINATION in HIS trial.

9. ALL TESTIMONY and information MUST COME DIRECTLY FROM THE BOOK
ALL TESTIMONY and information MUST COME DIRECTLY FROM THE BOOK. You are not allowed to offer your opinion. If it wasn’t clearly stated in the book, you can’t use it in the trial.
When creating questions, you must determine who would be able to answer the question…in other words, that witness MUST have been in the scene, heard, or said something. If he/she wasn’t there, you can’t ask that person about it.

10. Roles: Overview Lead Lawyer Assistant Lawyer #1 Opening Statement
Organizes the
Advisory Council
Registers Objections
Advisory Council #1
Prepares X
Quests for OUR LL to
ask Timmins’ witnesses
Advisory Council #2
Predict & Prepare all
X Quests that Timmins’ kids
might ask OUR witnesses
Assistant Lawyer #2
Closing Statement
Organizes Witnesses
Witnesses
Character Expert
Create Qs/As for OUR LL
To ask you

11. Grading: Participation, Legal Brief, & Jury Report
Daily Participation
Complete all HW assignments
‘On task’ during class preparation
Actively participate in actual trial
Witnesses & Advisory Council:
½ of your daily participation grade come from me, and ½ comes from your Lead Lawyer.
Lead Lawyer:
½ of your daily participation grade come from me, and ½ comes from your Legal Team.

12. Legal Brief Jury Report Each role has a different “Legal Brief”.
The directions are in your team’s folder.
Jury Report
You will take notes during the trial
You will vote: Guilty OR Not Guilty
You will write a report about your vote & attach your notes from the trial to the report.

13. Leading VS Open Ended Questions, and the 4 Categories of Objections
Creating Questions,
Leading VS Open Ended Questions, and the 4 Categories of Objections

14. Writing Questions:
Witnesses – You create OPEN ENDED questions for your Lead Lawyer to ask you.
Advisory Council #1 – You create LEADING questions for your Lead Lawyer to ask Mrs. Timmins’ students.
Advisory Council #2 – You create LEADING questions that Mrs. Timmins’ kids MIGHT ask OUR WITNESSES. (“Twoooo is for youuu”).

15. Creating Questions: Format
1. Question: State your name and occupation.
Answer: My name is____, and I work_____.
Page #: 15
2. Question:
Answer:
Page #:
3. Question:

16. Leading VS Open Ended
Witnesses create Open Ended questions for their character.
Open Ended questions
Allow the witness to discuss any parts of the story that make his team look good.
Example: “Tell me about your relationship with the defendant.”
The witness can talk about all of the good parts OR all of the bad parts – what ever works for your case.

17. LEADING Questions
Advisory Councils (Both 1 & 2) create LEADING questions.
Leading Questions: “Force” the witness to answer in a certain way, and they help emphasize the effects the offense has had on the victim.

18. Sample Cross Examination Questions:
Are often yes/no questions.
Isn’t it true that …?
You didn’t consider…, did you?
When everyone else left, you chose to stay. Isn’t that correct?
This crime happened when you…, right?

19. REASONS TO OBJECT
FALSE TESTIMONY -What the witness said isn’t in the book (Directly stated, observed and/or witnessed.)
LEADING
Examples of leading questions: “Isn’t it true”/ “Didn’t you…”
Lead lawyers can only ask open-ended questions during direct examination (when they are questioning their own witnesses).
Lead lawyers can NOT ask his/her OWN witnesses leading questions.

20. REASONS TO OBJECT
UNABLE TO TESTIFY-The character on the witness stand was not present to see, hear or hear about what they are talking about.
OPINION-witnesses can only talk about opinions that were DIRECTLY STATED IN THE BOOK.