The Jury of Middle Earth vs. The Sons of Fëanor

    The role that was given to me in the trial was the judge/jury. Being on this side was very interesting because I was able to see the point of view of both sides. By having this role, I felt as though I had to be very open to both sides and not really have a bias towards either the prosecution or the defense.  I found that staying neutral was very challenging for me, because I had already formed an opinion on the subject after reading the book. The role I took on, in general, was more difficult than I originally thought it would be. Coming up with questions to ask each of the groups was hard, and even when I thought we asked a good question, the team would answer so quickly that it almost felt obsolete. 

    When it came time for us to make our decision, we looked back at all of the information that we had gained so far. The prosecution was very prepared in everything that they did. From the opening statement to the closing statement, they had a sufficient amount of evidence to back up everything they were saying. The defense, while they made good points, was simply not as factual as the prosecution. When making our decision, it seemed very obvious to all of us that the prosecution should win. Now, when it came down to the charges given to the defense by the prosecution, this is where we did not agree. The prosecution had a list of eight different charges against the defense, but five of the eight, were more religious discrepancies rather than legal ones. For example, one of the charges was “sins of betrayal”. While we can all most likely agree that the sin of betrayal is not morally correct, it is not illegal in a court of law. 

    We came to the conclusion that the defense was found guilty of three of eight charges including: both counts of kinslaying, armed theft of Teleri boats, and arson of illegally obtained property. We were all on the same page about this, and we didn’t really have to argue any to get to this conclusion.