Preece 1

Gracie Preece

Ms.Moser

Period 2

25 April 2017

Mock Trial Write-up

In the mock trial, Dale Reynolds was put on trial because he shot and killed his

stepfather. He admitted that he killed Mr.Simpson, but claims he acted in self-defense. The state

of Washington convicts him of a premeditated murder and the prosecution denies self-defense

because his stepfather was not threatening him at the time. At the end of the trial, the jurys

verdict claims Dale as not guilty. I think that the jurys verdict was valid and I would have

exonerated the defendant as well.

One reason why I think that the defendant Dale was not guilty is because of the abuse he

had received from his stepfather. Dale stated that his stepfather had lived with him since he was 6

years old and has been abused by him countless times. Dale also lived with his mother and little

sister. He said times my dad would hit or kick me on the ground for unnecessary reasons, like

me not taking out the trash or because he thought I stole something showing that his father

constantly abused even his mother. Dale also said that the night before, his stepfather was

slapping his mother and he tried to take the attention off her. When he did this his father got

angry and threatened to get rid of him for good. Mr. Simpson was recorded to be 63 and much

bigger than Dale while Dale was 61. Because of this, Dale said that a weapon would be

necessary to defend himself against his stepfather. The fact that Dales father had constantly

abused him and was much bigger than him caused me to believe that he was not guilty and did it

to protect himself.
 Preece 2

Another reason why I agree that Dale the defendant is not guilty is because of his

Battered Child syndrome. In this trial one of the witnesses was professor Dr. Pat Carroll, who has

a Ph.D in psychology. She said that she had reviewed the files of the case and had interviews

with the defendant. In doing this, she claimed Dale was suffering from Battered Child syndrome

when he shot and killed his stepfather. Battered child syndrome is an act of defense that can alter

a childs perception about whether they were in possible danger or not. Battered Child syndrome

also affects the way a child reacts in immediate danger. Dr. Pat Carroll also said because Dale

was suffering from Battered Child Syndrome at the time, he had a reasonable fear for his life.

Because of this syndrome, individuals constantly suffering from abuse may strike back at any

time. All these incidents of Battered Child syndrome prove to me that Dale was acting in self

defense and was not guilty.

In the trial, there were also points made by witnesses that could have made Dale seem

guilty. Jan Martinez said that Dale had seemed stressed lately because of his father. This could

have been a result of the Battered Child syndrome. She also claimed that she had went to Dales

house the day before the shooting and she said Dale had shown her a loaded gun and brought up

that he was planning on killing Mr.Simpson. Even though this was said, there was no exact proof

it was true.

The evidence involving the previous abuse the defendant Dale had been through, the fact

that Mr. Simpson was much larger than Dale, and Dales suffering from Battered Child syndrome

all prove that Dale was not guilty. These things show that Dale shot his stepfather out of self

defense because he had been threatened by him. Dale did not have any other way to protect

himself and his syndrome caused him to react the way he did. Overall, I would have exonerated

Dale the defendant because I believe him to not be guilty.