AAR 1864 Trial Event

[LindaTrent]

All I can say is a huge THANK YOU to everyone who attended. It was a wonderful event even if poor Mr. Downard and Mr. McKenzie were sentenced to 40 years in the State Penitentiary.

I'm pleased that everyone took their jobs seriously. I'm not going to say anymore at this time, other than a rough idea of some of the complexities of the event can be seen by going to http://cw186165.homestead.com/eventindex.html As I've said on my list and such, I will be adding more to this site over the next few weeks as time allows.

Thanks again to everyone who attended!

Linda.

[LindaTrent]

Well, I still haven't gotten to my AAR of the trial event, but my AAR of the pre-event and the events leading up to the trial following the pre-trial event.

Linda.

[pambryda]

I'm curious...

Hank was representing both defendants? I think that now it's a conflict of interest for defense counsel to represent multiple defendants in the same matter; was it otherwise in 186x Kentucky, or was that due to the constraints of the event?

Pam Kingsley-Bryda

[Hank Trent]

The defendants were charged with the same crime (murder and conspiracy to commit murder), and were indicted and tried together, with me representing them during the trial. The defense was mistaken identity. They were either both together involved in the murder, or both elsewhere, so there was no real defense advantage to moving to sever.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Csayankee]

All I want to know is. Was I supposed to own a gun?

[Hank Trent]

All I want to know is. Was I supposed to own a gun?

There was no right or wrong answer. I was going to go with whatever the person who portrayed that witness said, as I would have in real life.

My defense was based on the fact that it was possible someone else had a motive to murder Cooper (the man who robbed you). As Downard and McKenzie's attorney, I was hoping to get as much doubt in the jury's mind as I could, by showing it was possible someone else had killed him. I knew you didn't actually do it, since Downard & McKenzie had already confessed to me in confidence, but I hoped to imply to the jury that you might have.

The eyewitness testimony about the murderers was that they were wearing brown coats, one had a tall black hat, and the murder weapon was a .54 caliber rifle. Coincidentally, you happened to wear a brown coat, which was to my advantage, so that's why I asked you to state the color of your coat.

When I found out you owned no gun, I debated between not bring it up at all, or bringing it up in the hopes the jury might think you were lying. I decided to go with the latter.

Reconstructing part of my closing argument from my notes, I said something like this about you:

You've heard Mrs. Finnegan testify that Mr. Cooper was an abrasive man, who insulted people and made enemies. But three days before he died he did more than that. He held a knife to a man's throat (I demonstrated with the knife), threatened to kill him, and robbed him of his money. You heard Mr. MacInnis, the last witness, who was robbed by Mr. Cooper, testify that he couldn't recover his money or get justice through the law. Mr. MacInnis was a man who could deny he owned a rifle, but he couldn't deny wearing a brown coat, the same color as one of the murderers.

When Mr. MacInnis didn't fall for Mr. Cooper's threats, and reported the robbery at the Franklin House on Wednesday, March 23, the Coopers fled in fear, leaving their luggage behind. [That was from the testimony of the desk clerk, Mr. Whittaker, portrayed by Noah Briggs.] The same day, they arrived at the home of Mr. Downard and Mr. MacKenzie. Two days later, Mr. Cooper was killed, in a place where the sheriff testified it was easy for bushwhackers to come and hide and escape without being seen.

By the way, you did your role perfectly! And as you can see, you were absolutely crucial for the defense in helping to introduce reasonable doubt. The more equally matched the evidence was for both sides, the more fun we hoped the jury would have in debating how to vote, so we are extremely grateful to you for offering at the last minute to do your part! Rumor has it that the first jury poll was 3-1 for "not guilty," and by the end of the deliberations, it had switched to 4-0 for "guilty," so apparently we gave them something think about.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Micah Trent]

[QUOTE=LindaTrent;69361] It was a wonderful event even if poor Mr. Downard and Mr. McKenzie were sentenced to 40 years in the State Penitentiary. Linda. /QUOTE]

Ah, they got off lucky! I still have my doubts about them and if the final decision could've been mine...I'd said HANG'EM!!! Especially Mr. Downard with his greasy hair and his impeccable mustache.

An excellent event indeed. Enjoyed the trial and the company. The food was more then great and Noah's coffee was perfect...miss it already. Was honored to be part of this event.

a.k.a.
Thomas Harlan

[Trish Hasenmueller]

Those of you who are getting these few messages so far and wondering why you haven't heard from more of us yet need to know that it was so BIG that we're all still trying to get our brains around it. The trial event came off without a hitch. It was very gratifying to hear from the real-life judge and real-life attorney who were with us that they had both had trepidations about whether this concept could be carried off but that they were most impressed with how well all the legal aspects for an 1864 trial were carried out. I think both our members from the legal profession are ready to plan another 'trial day'!

For those who want to know more, read Linda's web page and wait patiently for the AAR's to come in, please.

Trish Hasenmueller

[LindaTrent]

Especially Mr. Downard with his greasy hair and his impeccable mustache.

Ah, that mustache has been the talk of Peak's Mill. Anyone who spends that much time on his appearance would never get his hands bloodied. That was one fine mustache!

It was very gratifying to hear from the real-life judge and real-life attorney who were with us that they had both had trepidations about whether this concept could be carried off but that they were most impressed with how well all the legal aspects for an 1864 trial were carried out.

Yes, Tom Lowe (who portrayed our sheriff) and Rob Carter, who was our judge, are real life attorneys. Steve Ratterman has been in the Kentucky criminal justice system for 21 years, and I believe there was one or two other people also with some connection to the law.

Neither Hank nor Mark are lawyers, but have learned everything through studying for this event.

I think both our members from the legal profession are ready to plan another 'trial day'!

There you go! Someone can organize that event. For me? I spread myself too thin on this one. Needing to assist the staff, keep an eye on the trial, make certain there was enough water, and other organizer-type things kept me too spread out. I can't wait to just be a participant again.

I know there's been some interest in a civil trial, perhaps that can be worked out by a couple people. I can advise, but I will not organize or coordinate.

Linda.

[NoahBriggs]

Yes, a civil trial. Mr. Whittaker would like to file litigation against his old employer the Frankfort House Hotel for being fired by the hotel owner so his nephew (recently returned from the War) could have a job. Whittaker was forced to look for employment, and only by God's graces and previous bar and coffee-making experience was able to secure employment at the Peaks Mill Inn.