The Lawyer, the Plaintiff, and the Innocent?
"Mr. Brahms, please tell the jury how you came to meet the defendant.""Well...it was a Saturday a couple months ago. I was working late at the hospital...maybe 10:00 or 11:00? When I left work, I was walking down the sidewalk to our parking garage when I saw Mr. Tigris lying facedown on the concrete."
"What happened then, Mr. Brahms?"
"I....I walked up to him to check to see if he was okay. I approached and shook his shoulder to see if he was conscious. When I did, he started moaning and groaning like he was in pain. I tried to see if he was injured..."
"Now, Mr. Brahms, you are a medical professional, correct?"
"That's right. I'm a nurse."
"So you would have been able to fairly easily identify any physical wounds on the defendant?"
"Yes, I believe I would be."
"But you did not find any on the defendant?"
"No, I did not."
"What happened next?"
"When I was looking for wounds, he pulled a knife from somewhere in his coat and threatened me with it!"
"The defendant mugged you?"
"Yes! He took my wallet and keys and left me there in the cold!"
"Objection! Leading the witness!"
"Objection!"
"Sustained. Watch yourself, Mr. Nemo."
"Withdrawn. The prosecution will rest."
"Your witness, Mr. Jackovich."
"Thank you, your honor. Now, Mr. Brahms, you claim that my client was lying faceup on the road when you found him?"
"What? No! I said he was lying facedown on the sidewalk!"
"Right right right. So he was lying facedown on the sidewalk as you were walking to work?"
"No. I was walking away from work. Towards my car."
"Your car in the parking lot?"
"My car in the parking garage."
"Right right. Of course. My mistake. So you checked Mr. Tigris for injuries and he threatened you?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Right. He pulled a weapon from somewhere in his coat and told you to hand over all your money?"
"Yeah."
"You're sure about all this?"
"Yes, of course, I am! It's not an event I'd easily forget!"
"Of course, of course. It would be a very traumatic experience for anyone. So, tell me, Mr. Brahms, how did my client pull his weapon on you?"
"I...I don't understand?"
"How did he do it? How exactly did he pull his weapon from his jacket?"
"What? He...reached inside his jacket and pulled it out?"
"How exactly? Please humor me, Mr. Brahms."
"He opened his jacket, reached inside, and pulled it out!"
"While he was lying facedown? On the sidewalk?"
"Yes! I mean no...I mean he started to rise up a little bit and pulled it out."
"Well, which was it, Mr. Brahms? Was he lying facedown or getting up?"
"What does it mat-"
"It's a very simple question, Mr. Brahms! Was the defendant lying down or getting up when he pulled the gun from his jacket and threatened you?!"
"Getting up! He was getting up! He...he rolled over and sat up and pulled it on me!"
"He turned over, sat up, and pulled the gun on you?"
"Yes!"
"What gun?"
"What? Oh...I mean knife. When he pulled the knife on me."
"So, Mr. Brahms, you seem to remember everything about the night in question perfectly, except any of the actual interactions you had with my client."
"What? No! I remember!"
"Really? A gun. A knife. Lying down. Sitting up. You don't really seem to remember much."
"Well...it was all such a blur..."
"But didn't you just say that it was not an event you'd easily forget? How is it that you remember so much else about that night but not what position my client was in or what weapon he used to threaten you?"
"Objection! Your honor, this is all circumstantial! Mr. Brahms isn't on trial here!"
"Sustained. Your time is up, Mr. Jackovich. Closing remarks?"
"Not much to say, your honor. I'll just let the jury decide..."
Let the Jury Decide |
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Author's Note:
This adaptation of The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal was inspired by many a crime or courtroom drama. To any discerning law experts, I apologize for the probable inaccuracies in my portrayal of court proceedings. This adaptation attempts to twist the subjects and story to fit a modern human perspective. I also played with the names, as I'm sure many of you noticed, and attempted a further twist by having the Brahman namesake be accused of being the real predator. Is Mr. Tigris guilty? Or did Mr. Brahms make it all up? You're the jury in this case...
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Bibliography:
From Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
"Objection!"
Let the Jury Decide
I like this story you did, it kept me interested because I love learning things about law and the aspects of the law. I did not like the story you chose but that is based off personal preference. I do like how you made it a twist and a turn story and really kept me engaged. I think another thing you could have done before this story is make sure the legal proceedings are accurate. Overall, well done. I really appreciated this story.
ReplyDeleteHi Rhys!
ReplyDeleteI am not a law student by any means, so I had no issues whatsoever with the legal jargon you included. I thought it was a unique retelling. I love that you included so much dialogue because questions and dialogue were essential to the original story when the jackal was pretending to not understand. The names you used were amusing as well. Great job on the retelling!
Hey Rhys!
ReplyDeleteThis story was super fun to read! It honestly kept me on edge the entire time. I am super interested in law, and I wish I had the patience and knowledge to pursue a future in law, but regardless, this story was a very fun read. I thought your adaptation was really fun, and I really appreciate the abundance of dialogue! I need to work on that myself, many of my stories end up too bland and dry because I do not know how to integrate dialogue well, but you have inspired me to give it a shot.
Anyways, great story!
Best wishes,
Mikayla
Hey Rhys,
ReplyDeleteI liked this story a lot! It was really fun to read, and I liked how you left it up for interpretation in the end. I think this is a perfect story that shows just how flawed eyewitness testimony is in actual court cases. I also liked how you kept the Jackal's fake confusion trick in the story as well, as I think it worked really well here.