Great Wars and Great Leaders
Great Wars and Great Leaders
mock trial script.
it gave us an idea of how a real trial case would be like.
Witnesses
James Byrnes - Secretary of State (1)
Paul Fussell - World War 2 soldier (2)
President Truman (3)
Main Reason:
Shocked Japan into surrendering. As well as stopping Russia from putting their troops in Hungary and Romania. (1)
A quick end to WWII (1)
It saved the lives of American soldiers and potentially saved the lives of Japanese soldiers and civilians (2)
As a President, you must use whatever you can to save your people. (3)
Script
Bailiff: All rise. [Wait for everyone-except the judge- to stand.] Department One of the Superior Court is now in session. Judge (first name) presiding. Please be seated.
Judge: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Calling the case of the People of the United States versus Japan. Are both sides ready? District Attorney: Ready for the People, Your Honor. U.S. Public Defender: Ready for the defense, Your Honor
Judge: Will the clerk, please, swear in the jury?
Clerk: Will the jury, please stand and raise your right hand? [Wait for everyone to stand.] Do each of you swear that you will fairly try the case before this court and that you will return the right verdict according to the evidence and the instructions of the court, so help you, God? Please say, "I do."
Jurors: I do
Clerk: You may be seated.
Japanese Public Defender: [Stand up and talk to the jury.] Your Honor, ladies, and gentlemen of the board: the defendant is being charged with bombing a fellow country unjustifiably. The evidence will show that on the date of August 6, 1945, the state of Japan was rained upon by a U.S. weapon. They were then considered to have done the action wrongly, without reason. The defendants used unnecessary force that brought death and harm to our land, the people, and our honor. The evidence I present will prove to you that the defendant is guilty as charged.
U.S. Public Defender: [Stand up and talk to the jury.] Your Honor and ladies and gentlemen of the jury: under the law, my client presumed innocent until proven guilty. During this trial, you will hear no real evidence against my client. You will come to know the truth: that the U.S. was just doing what had to do for all the right reasons. After finding out that the U.S. was only doing what was best to end the war, it became clear that their intentions were not evil but for the greater good. Therefore, my client is not guilty, but rather innocent.
Judge: The defense may call its first witness.
U.S. Public Defender: The People of the United States of America call President Truman.
Clerk: Please stand. Raise your right hand. Do you promise that the testimony you shall give in the case before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you, God?
Pres. Truman: I do.
Clerk: Please state your first and last name.
Pres. Truman: Harry S. Truman
Clerk: You may be seated.
U.S. Public Defender: [Stand up.] (Harry)Where do you work?
Harry Truman: I am the 33rd President of the United States of America.
U.S. Public Defender: What happened on the night of August 6, 1945
Harry Truman: I gave the order to drop the bombs on Japan
U.S. Public Defender: Was it your intent to kill the civilians?
Harry Truman: My intent was not to destroy their culture or people, but to stop their ability to make war.
U.S. Public Defender: Did you feel obligated to do so?
Harry Truman: It is not whether I felt obligated or not. As a President, I must protect my people with whatever I can.
U.S. Public Defender: Thank you. I have no further questions.
Judge: Does the prosecution have any questions?
…
Judge: The defense may call its second witness.
U.S. Public Defender: The People of the United States of America call Paul Fussell.
…
U.S. Public Defender: Paul, on the night of the bombing, where were you?
Paul Fussell: My division transferred to take part in an invasion at Honshu, an island of Japan. I noticed that in Okinawa, 123,000 Americans and Japanese soldiers killed each other. It made me realize that war is indeed cruel and incredibly immoral.
U.S. Public Defender: So would you say that the bombing was indeed an act of good
Paul Fussell: Yes, I would. Dropping the bomb ended the war and saved more lives from being lost in the long run.
U.S. Public Defender: Thank you, Paul. I have no further questions.
Judge: Would the opposition like to ask any questions?
Japanese Public Defender: No, your honor.
Judge: The defense may call its third witness.
U.S. Public Defender: The people of the United States of America call James Byrnes.
…
Clerk: Please state your first name and last name for the record.
James Byrnes: James Byrnes.
U.S. Public Defender: So, James, were you aware of the damage caused by the bomb?
James Byrnes: Yes, I was.
U.S. Public Defender: Was it meant to kill innocent people or destroy the country?
James Byrnes: Neither. The bomb meant to shock the Japanese army into surrendering only. I also noticed that Russia was causing some disturbance in three nearby countries, so the bomb would have and did stop both Russia and Japan from causing any more problems.
U.S. Public Defender: So, in the end, the bomb stopped disturbance in the northeast and Japan?
James Byrnes: Indeed, it did.
U.S. Public Defender: Thank you, James. I have no further questions.
Annotated Bibliography
Document A: Textbook
The document provides the information used to find out what the U.S. officials discussed on how to force Japan into surrendering. The text is to inform the reader of the President'sPresident's idea on why he should use the bomb. It suggests that the President had to do what he could to protect his people.
Document B: Paul Fussell WWII Soldier
Document B is to inform the damage and lives of soldiers lost during the war. It suggests that the bomb was used for good to end both sides'sides' pain in the long run. We used this document to prove that the war was terrible, and since the bomb ended the war, it was not used for evil intentions but rather good ones.
Document C: James Byrnes'sByrnes's PlanPlan
James Byrnes wanted to use the bomb to shock Japan into immediate surrender. He also felt that the weapon would be enough to surprise Russia and make them stop their disturbance in the northeastern countries. The purpose of the document was to inform of Byrnes'sByrnes's PlanPlan on how it would impress Russia and shock Japan.
"Reasons in Favor of the Atomic Bombing of Japan." History Crunch,
The article talks about the pros of dropping the bomb on Hiroshima. It suggests that the weapon used for good, and it saved much trouble. The article's purpose is to inform of the right reasons in favor of why the bomb dropped.
"Harry S Truman'sTruman's Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb (U.S. National Park Service)." National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior,
The purpose of this article is to inform the readers of President Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb. The article suggests that Truman did not want to destroy the people or culture of the Japanese, but to stop their ability to make war anymore.
https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/mocktrialscript-contra.pdf
This website is aa mock trial script. We based our script on it, and it gave us an idea of how a real trial case would be like. The purpose of the text is to provide an idea of how an actual case would play out.
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