trial -
stand trial - Syn be on trial (for smth)
try smb. for smth. - , -. -.
be in session -
prisoner -
the prisoner ' s box -
indictment - ;
indict -
guilty -
be guilty of smth., doing smth. - -.
plead (not) guilty (to smth.) - () -
find smb. (not) guilty of smth doing smth - -. () -.
blunt -
housekeeper -
draw up (a will, plan, etc.) - (, . .)
I withdraw my question. - .
object to smth, doing smth - -., , -.
assailant -
search
fingerprint -
fingerprints -
robbery - ,
commit a robbery -
be consistent with - ,
burglar (ess) - (), -
break in - , , ( )
offer smth. as evidence - -.
exhibit -
cross - examination -
cross - examine -
confine oneself to - ,
Exercises
1. Study the text carefully and answer these questions.
1. What was the indictment?
2. What did the judge mean by saying that the jurors must try the case on the evidence alone?
3. Who appeared for the Prosecution?
4. Who were the Counsels for the Defence?
5. Who were witnesses for the Prosecution?
6. Who was the first to give evidence?
7. Why did Sir Wilfred object to Mr Myers' question as to whether the murderer had taken Mrs French by surprise?
8. Was the objection accepted or overruled?
9. Whose fingerprints did the police discover in Mrs French's drawing-room? Would they be justified in saying those fingerprints provided any clues?
10. Why did the police think there was something suspicious about the state the drawing-room was in?
11. Whose jacket did Chief Inspector Hearne produce in evidence?
12. For what purpose was the jacket handed to the laboratory?
13. What supposition did Sir Wilfred come out with?
14. Why did Sir Wilfred ask the Chief Inspector and the judge to examine the knife he produced in evidence?
15. How did Leonard Vole account for the stains on the jacket cuffs?
16. What type of blood did Vole have?
17. How did the public react to Sir Wilfred's statement? Could you say that the sympathies of the public were with Vole?
2. Prove that
a). there was a flaw (a weak spot) in the evidence of the police;
b). the police evidence wasnt sufficient to prove that it was Vole who had murdered Mrs French;
c). Sir Wilfred managed to break down the police evidence.
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3. Make up conversations
a). between two people who were at the hearing of the case;
b). between Sir Wilfred and Brogan-Moore; they exchange impressions of the first day of the trial.
4. Find equivalents in the text for these word combinations and sen tences.
1. . 2. , , ... 3. , , . 4. , ; 5. - ; 6. . 7. . 8. λ.
5. Form the corresponding nouns from the following verbs and compose word-combinations with each noun.
| a) indict | c) fingerprint | e) cross-examine |
| b) try | d) rob | f) suspect |
6. Complete the sentences with the following words from the box:
| innocent to cross-examine prisoners box to stand trial courtroom Counsel for the Defence assailant to plead guilty to break into jury court clerk defendant to be charged on indictment to hear the case guards Counsel for the Prosecution to murder jury-box judge |
: Ladies and Gentlemen!
Today we are going.of Sir Belmoore, whofor murder of Helen Smith. (Theis overcrowded. The...is presiding. The., consisting of 6 men and 6 women, are in the ..The is sitting in the ..between two The is frowning in his seat. The is quite aware of the fact, that his rival is going tohis..).
Sir Alfred Belmoore! Youthat on the 14th of December you..the house owned by Helen Smith and the woman. Do you?
Sir Belmoore: No, I am.
7. Complete the following sentences with the words used in the text:
a). Anyone who has killed a person with intention is called ..
b). is a person who stands trial.
c). A defendant is ..by the Counsel for the Defence.
d). If a criminal breaks into a house in order to steal things he commits .
e). 12 members of the public who find a defendant either guilty or innocent are called ..
f). When the Counsel for the Defence doesnt agree a Counsel for the Prosecutions question to be asked, he .to it.
g). In order to find some exhibits, police makes ..at a suspects place.
h). In a courtroom a defendant sits in .
i). Things which prove defendants guilt are..
j). When a defendant makes a statement that he/she has committed a crime he
8. Group the words from the box into a few logical groups:
| jury-box to try (sb. for smth.) judge prisoners box to make a search corroborative evidence robbery jury jail to find (sb.) guilty crime medical testimony witness-box Counsel for the Defence to fingerprint exhibits Counsel for the Prosecution burglary witness courtroom fingerprints to charge (sb.) on indictment defendant circumstantial evidence Chief Inspector to cross-examine solicitor murder laboratory experts |
Groups:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
9. Write down the questions for the following answers:
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| a)....? | Not guilty. |
| b)? | A search was made. Photographs were taken and the premises were fingerprinted. |
| c)....? | I must object. My learned friend is putting words in the witnesss mouth. |
| d)? | According to the housekeeper nothing was missing. |
| e)....? | Yes. Though an attempt was made to wash them out. |
| f).? | Yes, Sir. Its type O. |
| g)? | Let us not surmise, but confine ourselves to facts. |
Scene four
(The third day of the Vole trial. Mr Myers, the Counsel for the Prosecution, is going to call his surprise witness, Christine Helm.)
Judge: Mr Myers, does that conclude your case?
Myers: No, my Lord. I now call the final witness for the prosecution, Christine Helm.
Usher: Christine Helm! Christine Helm! Christine Helm!
(Sir Wilfred and Brogan-Moore look at each other in bewilderment. Christine Vole, pale but calm, enters the courtroom. Looking straight in front of her she goes to the witness-box.)
Christine (reading the oath): I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Sir Wilfred (addressing the judge): My Lord, I have the most serious objection to this witness being summoned by the prosecution, as she is the wife of the prisoner Leonard Vole!
Myers: My Lord, I call my learned friend's attention to the fact that I summoned not Mrs Vole, but Mrs Helm. (To Christine): Your name in fact is Christine Helm?
Christine: Yes, Christine Helm.
Myers: And you have been living as the wife of the prisoner Leonard Vole?
Christine: Yes.
Myers: Are you actually his wife?
Christine: No, I went through a marriage ceremony with him in Hamburg, but I already had a husband. He is still alive.
Vole: Christine! That's not true!!
Sir Wilfred: My Lord, there is proof of the marriage between the witness and the prisoner. Is there any proof of the so-called previous marriage?
Myers: My Lord, the so-called previous marriage is in fact well-documented (Holding the marriage certificate, to Christine): Mrs Helm, is this a certificate of marriage between yourself and one Otto Ludwig Helm? The ceremony having taken place in Breslau on the 18th of April, 1942?
Christine: Yes, that is the paper of my marriage. (Myers passes the certificate to a clerk, who takes it to the judge.)
Judge: I don't see any reason why this witness should not be qualified to give evidence.
Myers: Mrs Helm, are you willing to give evidence against the man you've been calling your husband?
Christine: Yes.
Myers: You stated to the police that on the night that Mrs French was murdered Leonard Vole left the house at seven thirty and returned at twenty-five past nine. Did he in fact return at twenty-five past nine?
Christine: No, he returned at ten minutes past ten.
Vole: Christine, what are you saying? It's not true. You know it's not true?!
Usher: Silence!
Judge: I must have silence!
Myers (to Christine): Leonard Vole returned, you say, at ten minutes past ten. And what happened next?
Christine: He was breathing hard, very excited. He threw off his coat and examined the sleeves. Then he told me to wash the cuffs. They had blood on them. I said: "Leonard, what have you done?"
Myers: And what did the prisoner say to that?
Christine: He said: "I've killed her."
Vole: Christine! Why are you lying? Why are you saying these things?!!
Myers: Mrs Helm, when the prisoner said: "I have killed her," did you know to whom he referred?
Christine: It was that woman he had been going to see so often.
Myers: Now then, when questioned by the police you told them that the prisoner returned at nine twenty-five?
Christine: Yes. Because Leonard asked me to say that..
Myers: But you change your story now. Why?
Christine: I cannot go on lying to save him! I said to the police what he wanted me to say because I'm grateful to him. He married me and brought me to this country. What he has asked me to do I've always done, because I was grateful.
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Myers: It was not because he was your husband, and you loved him?
Christine: I never loved him.
Myers: It was gratitude to the prisoner then that prompted you to give him an alibi in your statement to the police?
Christine: That is it, exactly.
Myers: But now you think it was wrong to do so?
Christine: Because it is murder. That woman... she was a harmless old fool. And he makes me an accomplice to the murder! I cannot come into court and swear that he was with me at the time when it was done. I cannot do it! I cannot do it!!!
Myers: Then this is the truth that Leonard Vole returned that night at ten minutes past ten, that he had blood on the sleeves of his coat and that he said to you: "I have killed her"?
Christine: That is the truth.
Myers: Thank you.
(Now it is Sir Wilfred's turn to cross-examine the witness.)
Sir Wilfred: Mrs Vole, or Mrs Helm... which do you prefer to be called?
Christine: It does not matter.
Sir Wilfred: Does it not? In this country we are inclined to take a rather more serious view of marriage. However, Frau Helm, it would appear when you first met the prisoner in Hamburg you lied to him about your marital state?
Christine: I wanted to get out of Germany, so...
Sir Wilfred: You lied, did you not? Yes or no, please.
Christine: Yes.
Sir Wilfred: Thank you. And subsequently in arranging the marriage you lied to the authorities?
Christine: I did not tell the truth to the authorities.
Sir Wilfred: You lied to them?
Christine: Yes.
Sir Wilfred: And in the ceremony of marriage itself, when you swore to love and to honour and to cherish your husband, that, too, was a lie?
Christine: Yes.
Sir Wilfred: And when the police questioned you about this poor man, who believed himself you married and loved him, you told them...
Christine: I told them what Leonard wanted me to say.
Sir Wilfred: And when you said that he had accidentally cut his wrist, again you lied?
Christine: Yes.
Sir Wilfred (with contempt): And now today youve told us a new story entirely. The question is, Frau Helm, were you lying then or are you lying now? Or are you not in fact a chronic and habitual liar?!!
Scene five
(In Sir Wilfred's study. Sir Wilfred is filled with dismay. The evidence given by Christine Helm produced a great impression on the jurors. Though they did not like her they believed her. Sir Wilfred can hold out little hope to his client. One question is still puzzling him what made Christine Vole testify against her husband? Suddenly his telephone rings. He hears a woman's voice. The woman offers to sell him Christine Vole's letters to her lover. Sir Wilfred meets the woman, buys the letters and hurries to the Old Bailey.
The Old Bailey. In the courtroom everyone but Sir Wilfred is in his seat.)
Judge: Since the Defence has called but one witness, the prisoner, it has the right to be heard last.
(Sir Wilfred enters the courtroom and hurries to his seat. From there he addresses the Judge.)
Sir Wilfred: My Lord, I ask that the case for the Defence be reopened, and that a witness be recalled. Evidence of the most startling nature2 has just come into my possession.
Judge: Now what is this new evidence, Sir Wilfred?
Sir Wilfred: Letters, my Lord. Letters written by Christine Helm. (Brogan- passes a batch of letters3 to the Judge who looks through them and then returns them to Sir Wilfred.)
Judge (to court clerk): Call Christine Helm.
Usher: Christine Helm! Christine Helm! Christine Helm! Christine Helm! (Christine Helm comes into the courtroom and enters the witness-box.)
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Sir Wilfred: Mrs Helm, you appreciate you're still under oath?
Christine: Yes.
Sir Wilfred: Mrs Helm, do you know a man named Max?
Christine: I don't know what you mean.
Sir Wilfred: It's a simple question. Do you or do you not know a man called Max?
Christine: Max? Certainly not.
Sir Wilfred: It's a fairly common name and yet you've never known a man of the name of Max?
Christine: Oh, in Germany perhaps. But that was a long time ago.
Sir Wilfred: I shall not ask you to go back that far, just a few weeks to... (taking a paper from his pocket he pretends to read it)... October the 20th last.
Christine (looking at the paper in Sir Wilfred's hand): What have you got there?
Sir Wilfred: A letter. I suggest that on October the 20th you wrote a certain letter...
Christine: I don't know what you are talking about.
Sir Wilfred:...addressed to a man named Max.
Christine: I did nothing of the sort.
Sir Wilfred: The letter was but one of a series written to the same man!
Christine (emotionally): Lies! All lies!
Sir Wilfred: You would seem to have been on... well, I should say, on intimate terms with this man.
Vole (fervently protesting): How dare you say a thing like that! It isn't true!
Sir Wilfred: I am not concerned with the general trend of this correspondence, only this one particular letter: "My beloved Max, an extraordinary thing has happened. I believe all our difficulties may be ended."
Christine: I will not stand here and listen to a pack of lies. 4 These letters are false ones. (Referring to the paper he is holding in his hand): It isn't even my letter paper!
Sir Wilfred: It isn't?
Christine: No! I write my letters on small blue paper with my initials on it!
(Sir Wilfred smiling triumphantly takes up the batch of Christine's letters from under the book and shows them to her.)
Sir Wilfred: Like this? Now, Mrs Helm, you have been kind enough to identify your letter paper. Now if you like, I can have an expert to identify your handwriting.
Christine (stunned, in a hoarse voice): Damn you! Damn you!!! (Makes for the door but the usher gets hold of her. She sits down on a chair sobbing): Let me go! Let me get out of here!
Judge: Sir Wilfred, will you now read the letter in question so that the Jury may hear it.
Sir Wilfred: "My beloved Max, an extraordinary thing has happened. All our difficulties may soon be solved. Leonard is suspected of murdering the old lady I told you about. His only hope of an alibi depends on me. On me alone! Suppose I testified that he was not at home with me at the time of the murder, that he came home with blood on his sleeves and that he even admitted to me that he had killed her. Strange, isn't it? He always said that he would never let me leave him, but now, if this succeeds, he will be leaving me because they will take him away, forever. And I shall be free, and yours, my beloved. I count the hours until we are together... Christine."
Judge: Mrs Helm, will you go back to the witness-box.
(Christine goes back to the witness-box.)
Sir Wilfred: I now ask you again, Christine Helm, did you write this letter?
Judge: Before answering, Mrs Helm, I wish to warn you that the law regarding perjury in this country is very severe. You have already committed perjury in this courtroom, I strongly advise you not to add to your crime. But if this letter has not been written by you, then now is the time to state this fact.
Christine (with tears in her eyes): I wrote the letter.
Sir Wilfred (to the judge): Then that, my Lord, is the case for the Defence.
Scene six
(The jury brings in a verdict of not guilty. Leonard Vole is released. Everyone leaves the courtroom. Sir Wilfred is still sitting in his place. He is not satisfied. The case seems too neat, too tidy and altogether too symmetrical. He feels there is something wrong about it. Christine Vole enters the courtroom. She has been attacked by the public, and some policemen have rescued her. Sir Wilfred and Christine Vole are alone in the courtroom.)
Christine: I never thought you British could get so emotional, especially in a public place.
Sir Wilfred: I apologise for my compatriots.
Christine: You loathe me, don't you? Like the people outside. What a wicked woman I am! And how brilliantly you exposed me and saved Leonard's life! The great Sir Wilfred Robart did it again. Well, let me tell you something. You didn't do it alone. You had help.
Sir Wilfred: What are you driving at?,
Christine: I am not driving at anything any more. Leonard is free, and we did it.
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Sir Wilfred: We?
Christine: Remember? When I came to see you and you said that no jury would believe an alibi given by a loving wife nomatter how much she swore her husband was innocent... that gave me the idea.
Sir Wilfred: What idea?
Christine: The idea that I should be a witness not for my husband, but for the prosecution. That I should swear Leonard was guilty and that you would expose me as a vicious liar,5 because only then would they believe Leonard was innocent.
Sir Wilfred: And all those blue letters?
Christine: It was I who sold them to you. It took me hours to write them, to invent "Max". There never was a Max. There's never been anyone but Leonard, only Leonard.
Sir Wilfred: My dear, could you not have trusted me? Worked with me truthfully, honourably? We would have won!
Christine: I could not run that risk. You see you thought he was innocent.
Sir Wilfred: And you knew he was innocent, I understand.
Christine: No, Sir Wilfred, you do not understand at all. I knew he was guilty.
Sir Wilfred: That can't be true! No!!!
Christine: Listen to me once and for all! Leonard came home a few minutes past ten. He did have blood on his sleeves. He did tell me he had killed the woman. Only I could save him, and he pleaded with me...
Sir Wilfred: And you saved him. A murderer?
Christine: Again you don't understand. I love him.
(Smiling triumphantly, Leonard comes in.)
Vole (to Sir Wilfred): I told you she was an actress. And a good one.
Christine: Leonard!
Vole: I knew she was going to do something for me, but I just didn't know what or how.
Christine (going up to Vole and embracing him, while he seems cool and reluctant): Leonard! Leonard!
Vole (to Sir Wilfred): Fooled you completely, didn't she?
Sir Wilfred: It was you, Vole, who fooled me!
(Suddenly a girl runs up to Vole and they embrace.)
Diana: Len! Oh, Len... Len! Oh, Len, they've been trying to keep me away from you! I've been nearly crazy!!
Christine: Leonard, who is this girl?
Diana: I am not this girl, I am his girl! Tell her, Len! You're not his wife, never have been. You're years older than he is. We've been going together for months and we're going away. Tell her yourself, Len.
Christine (rigidly): Yes, Len. Tell me yourself.
Vole (ignoring her): All right, Diana, come along.
Christine: You can't, Leonard! Not after what I've done! I won't let you!
Vole: Don't be silly. I saved your life getting you out of Germany, you saved mine getting me out of this mess. So we're even. It's all over now.
Christine: (holding on to Vole): Don't, Leonard! Leonard! Don't leave me! Don't! Don't, Leonard! Don't!
Vole (shaking her off): Pull yourself together. They'll only try you for perjury! Well, don't make it worse, or they'll try you as an accessory! (Pushes her into a chair.)
Christine: I don't care! Let them! Let them try me for perjury or as an accessory or... (On the table she sees the knife that was exhibited as evidence in the case)...or better yet... Let them try me for this! (Snatches the knife, runs up to Vole and thrusts it into his chest. Vole falls down. Diana goes into hysterics.)
Carter: What's happened?
A Voice: She's killed him.
Sir Wilfred: Killed him? She's executed him. (Mrs Vole is led away by two policemen.)
Sir Wilfred (to Carter): Get Brogan-Moore to my chambers, and I'll meet you there too. We are appearing for the Defence in the trial of Christine Vole!
Commentary
1. marital state: one's state with regard to marriage
2. evidence of the most startling nature: evidence of the most surprising (frightening) nature
3. a batch of letters: a number of letters
4. a pack of lies (suggesting contempt or anger): a lot of lies
5. vicious liar: an immoral (spiteful) liar
