Warm-Up: Scenario for Surviving Justice
Instructions: Read the following scenario and completely answer the questions that follow.
You are arrested while you are walking down the block to a friendŐs house one Saturday afternoon. You are charged with aggravated assault and robbery.
You find out while the police are questioning you that just one block away from your house at four a.m. the previous evening, a man stopped at a stop sign was pulled from his car, brutally beaten and had fifty dollars in cash stolen from his wallet. He claims that his assailant was wearing a mask, but your body and style of dress match his description exactly (it also matches most of the people in your neighborhood). Coincidentally, the police find exactly fifty dollars in your wallet.
You repeatedly tell police that you are innocent and that you spent the previous evening sleeping, that you went to bed at 10pm and woke up at 8am. Since you were sleeping alone and your parents were out of town, there is no one to prove you were home the entire time, and you cannot provide an alibi for the time of the crime.
During your trial, the attorney assigned to you instructs you to remain silent, and when you attempt to speak to defend yourself (since the attorney isnŐt doing it), the judge silences you and threatens to remove you from the courtroom entirely if you do not remain quiet.
You listen as the prosecution presents its case, and even you have to admit that it sounds like you could have committed this crime. Despite the fact that there isnŐt very much evidence against you, the jury (which is made up of twelve people of a different race) very quickly deliberates and finds you guilty as charged. You have NEVER admitted to the crime and have continued to vigorously insist that you are innocent. Because of your earlier outbursts, you are not allowed to speak after your sentence is handed down: 10 years in prison.