Statement of The Crime

1. Murder
2. Treason
3. Running from the law

Prosecution Opening Statement

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury you have come today to be the
deciding factor in this trial and the fate of the criminal known
as John Wilkes Booth. This man has been accused of murder,
treason against the United States government and running from
the law. This ladies and gentlemen of the jury is a very open
and shut case, especially when it comes to something like this,
Mr. John Wilkes Booth killed Abraham Lincoln in a packed
theatre. He ran from the law and almost got away, but luckily
our team of people trying to catch Booth was able to track him
down and bring him in for questioning. There are many people who
conspired with Mr.Booth that have pleaded guilty and said that
Mr.Booth was the man who killed Lincoln. Not to mention that
assassinating a president is considered treason against the
United States and our Government. This man claims that his
conspiring with other people was to show the world that the
south is still fighting and in the civil war even though the
south had already surrendered? That sounds a little bit shady to
me. This my friends look like a lie caught red-handed. This is
yet another reason the man known as John Wilkes Booth should be
locked up and put in jail. This may look like damning evidence
to the jury as it is, but all of this is without even mentioning
major evidence that was hidden very sloppily and downright
irresponsible by Booth and his conspirators. This includes the
single shot derringer pistol that is absolutely covered in Mr.
Booth's fingerprints and a letter admitting, telling people how
he killed former president Lincoln and who worked with him. Due
to such offenses to our Government and its people, Mr.Booth
should be locked up for life or hung to his death.
Defense Opening Statement
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury I am the advocate for Mr. John
Wilkes Booth and am here to tell all of you why my client is
innocent of all crimes that have been charged against him. My
client has been diagnosed with a type of mental illness that can
not be named at this moment but has been the reason that my
client has been acting how he has. This illness has show
 symptoms that have been the reason that Booth did kill former
president Abraham Lincoln and ran away from the law and did not
surrender when given the opportunity when cornered by the
Manhunters. He has been hallucinating that the civil war was
still continuing and that his commanding officer told him that
he was allowed to do whatever he wanted to do to help the south
win in the time of war. These symptoms also include large mood
swings and uncontrollable impulses. This is why my client John
Wilkes Booth shoot former president Lincoln and ran from the
law. All because couldn't control his actions and because of his
worsening conditions, hallucinations that my client was in the
mists of the war and hiding from the Union soldiers. This is
just an example why we should not shame or kill my client but we
should help him, reach out and assist him to a better side of
life. Aside that shows the best in all people, a side that will
cure all illnesses and heal all wounds, both emotionally and
physically. This is why my client John Wilkes Booth should not
be inhumanely hung for his actions but adopted into a society
that will help him and care for him. Thank You.

Prosecution Witness Statement

Prosecution: I would now like to bring to the stand, my first
witness. This man was with former president Lincoln when he was
assassinated by Abraham Lincoln; ladies and gentlemen I am proud
to introduce to General Rathbone. Mr. Rathbone, please explain
to us what when on the day of the assassination?
Rathbone: Thank you sir, and as for the day of the
assassination, it was a regular evening with my fiance at the
theatre with Mr. Lincoln and his wife Mary. Where were watching
the show having a good time when all of a sudden I hear a loud
bang from the left of me and I see a man who I later recognized
was John Wilkes Booth. In the mists of the attack and confusion,
I tried to tackle Booth to the ground but he stabbed me and I
was unable to bring him to the ground. After the incident, a
doctor was brought to treat both me and Abraham. The doctor,
after looking at Lincoln told us that the injury was fatal and
since a theatre is not the place for a president to die we were
offered a place for him to stay until he died by a woman who was
nearby. Bless that woman for her kind generosity. The boarding
 house she offered us was where we stayed till Lincoln's final
breath. Thank you, Mr.Prosecution.
Prosecution: Thank you, Amaral Rathbone, I know that was a hard
story to tell. Finally, I would like to bring to the stand
George Azeroth. George, may I call you George? Please tell us
your involvement with the Booth conspiracy.
Azeroth: Thank you Mr. Prosecution. I had been working and
conspired with Booth for quite a few years now but I can't put
my finger and an exact amount of time but had probably been just
over two years now. At the start, I and our group of friends
were just a group of friends that liked to talk about why we
were against Lincoln and what bad things he had done for the
country. Although every day from that the problems seemed to
escalate day after day, week after week, month after month until
I blink and I am knee deep in a conspiracy to kidnap the
president. Lucky the plan was never completed because we had the
wrong location of the president, he was actually at the hotel we
were staying at when we were almost outside of the city near
train track planning our route of escape. John was so mad when
we got back to our hotel to the buzzing sound of people talking
about how great Lincoln's speech was just then. I am proud to
say that I was the reason that we were at the wrong place at the
wrong time, I switched the address of Lincoln's speech to
protect the president from the hands of Booth and his mad plans.
I thought that that would be the end of that and John would come
to his senses and give in to the fact that there is no way he
would be able to cause harm or kill Lincoln, but that was not
the case, he just got more and more determined to kill Lincoln.
I wanted to leave the group but Booth said he would kill me if I
left because I knew too much. When it was finally time to
assassinate the 3 most powerful people of the country I knew I
could not fulfill my part of the plan so when I got to the hotel
that the vice president was staying at I just sat at the bar and
drank till the coast was clear. After all of this, I knew that I
had to go into hiding but I also knew that I couldn't hide from
the coppers so I made a plan to hide in my cousin's house but I
wouldn't run or resist if the Manhunters would catch me. Thank
You.
Defense Witness Statement
 I would now like to call to the stand the sister of Mr. Booth,
Asia Booth Clarke. Mrs. Clarke, can you please tell me what you
knew about John and his behavior.
Clarke: Thank you, I knew John very well. He was one of the best
minds in our family and had the acting skill just like his
father. He was a good man who was nice to everyone and had the
biggest heart in the world, but he did start acting differently
around the time he hit that 2O year mark. He started to have a
short fuse and would get mad at the smallest things and would
get very mad at almost anything that Lincoln did as president.
He would just be all over the place and because of this, I
decided to take him to his doctor to see if something had
happened to him and if he needed help. Sure enough, he was
diagnosed with some type of mental illness that has never been
seen before. John was put on a medication to help keep him safe
and in control of his illness but John would never take his
medication because he would always say that if he took the
medication he would look weak and he never wanted to show
weakness. After that as a family, we decided to take him to a
part of the country that was isolated from the rest of the world
because of John’s doctor's recommendation. We did all we could
but John did, in fact, escape from us and got back into the
city. That's all I know.
Defense: Thank you, Asia, Next I would like to bring to the
stand Dr. Doctermen Ph.D. MD.; Dr.Doctermen can you tell us what
you knew about Booth in your time treating him and his illness.
Dochterman: I have treated Mr. Booth for about 2-3 year now and
I can say that there is no one like him. This man is a certified
genius and had such great potential. I was first introduced to
Booth when he was brought in to my practice to run tests to see
if he was mentally ill or had some type of sickness in him. I
ran some tests and fud something around his cranium area and did
warn him that if this was not treated then there would be
serious consequences later in his life. He was prescribed to a
special medication that would help him and possibly end the
illness that he had. I had heard later that Booth was refusing
to take his medication and I knew I had to put a stop to this. I
asked the whole Booth family to take him to a place isolated
from the rest of society so I could come over with some of my
other colonies and see how he was reacting and get him to take
his medication. Unfortunately, Booth did escape from his family
before me and my colleagues could ask him questions and help him
take his medications. That was the last I heard of Booth before
he assassinated Lincoln. Thank you.
Closing Statement Prosecution
Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury I want to tell you right now
why the man by the name of John Wilkes Booth is guilty of all
crimes against him. The defense is saying that Booth was
mentally ill and he couldn't control himself? This man is a
famous actor, he should be able to get enough help to keep
himself safe from others with enough help which he has because
he is such a wealthy and with such a good reputation he can get
good enough help to watch over him at all times. Not just that
but remember, this man killed a beloved president, ran from the
law and conspiracies to kill two other elected officials but,
lucky the officials were able to survive the attacks before any
fatal damage was done to them. This is unacceptable, our country
had just ended a civil war and we abolished slavery all under
the hand of Abraham Lincoln and his wonderful administration.
This is why he should be hung and shamed, he single-handedly
killed a loved man who helped change the world for the better.
Now, before I leave you to decide your verdict, I want you to
imagine two worlds the first world is a sad world where the
country has been split in two and slavery is a constant and it
had gotten worse, not only black people are slaves but also poor
farmers and non-land owning people. This land is full of chaos
and mutiny. The second world is a wonderful world with equal
rights and love for everyone and the nation is connected into
one big well-oiled machine. This second world sound much better
doesn't it? Well, the second world is what might have happened
if Booth had not gotten to Lincoln. This first world is the one
that might have happened to our nation if we had not captured
Booth and if he continued to run free wreaking havoc, luckily we
were able to catch Booth before that could happen. I hope all of
you look inside your hearts and find the answer that's right.

Closing Statement Prosecution Defence

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury I beg for you to look into your
hearts and realize what punishment this man has gone through. He
has had such a brutal mental illness that he is unable to
control his actions and has to relive a brutal time in his life
that he believed that the only way to help the cause he believed
 in at that time was to kill, end another human being life!
Imagine if that was you, living your life in a dark, dark time
of your life unable to control where you go or what you do, just
sit and watch as you see all of it unfold in front of you. Look
into your hearts and see that none of this was Mr. Booths fault
but in fact the fault of god and his ruthless punishment on the
most insistent of people. Please show your sympathy towards this
man and help Booth take the first step into healing from his
sins.

Judge’s Verdict
The jury's verdict is in. With a unanimous vote, the defendant
is found… guilty for first-degree murder and treason. The reason
is that the jury believes that even if the defendant is mentally
ill they should be able to be contained by family members or
other people concerned with his health. The defendant John
Wilkes Booth is sentenced to death by hanging so no others can
be hurt by his actions.