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Luke Vosti

Master Moser

P. 4

20 April 2017

Mock Trial

In the mock trial, we discussed the murder of Mr. Simpson. It is a known fact that Dale

Reynolds murdered him, but the question was whether she is found guilty in the account of 1st

degree, 2nd degree, or that the murder was committed in self-defense. I was a member of the jury

and I feel that I was a big part in the verdict of the jury as a whole. We decided on 1st degree

murder which, in my opinion, was the most correct charge for Dale Reynolds. Detective Nickie

Loo said under oath, Mr. Simpson was found by the door with two gunshots in the head and no

sign of a struggle was found. This was my main piece of evidence for the intent of Dale. I was

obvious that this was not in self-defense. Mr. Simpson was found right next to the door with two

gunshots in his head. This shows that he made it no further than the door upon entering. In my

mind, this shows that Dale did not have to think, or have time to feel threatened by Mr. Simpson.

This clearly takes away the argument of her battered child syndrome in self-defense. To convict

on first degree murder it has to be premeditated. Jan Martinez said under oath, When I came

over Dale showed me that she had Mr. Simpsons gun loaded. By law, it says that for a murder

to be premeditated it has to be thought of beforehand at least twice. I believe that the first time

Dale thought to kill her Mr. Simpson was when she stole the gun, and the second time was when

she showed Jan Martinez the gun. Both of these instances I believed her to have the thought of
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killing Mr. Simpson. In my opinion, she also was thinking about as she waited for Mr. Simpson

to return home so she could shoot him twice in the head, without hesitation. First degree murder

seemed like the only just verdict. This trial was very fun to be a part of. As we (the jury) were

deciding on a verdict I found it very difficult to work with stubborn people. Being a stubborn

person myself did not help the situation. I learned that listening to other options and ideas is

crucial when deciding one final outcome. If no one listened then nothing would have been

accomplished. In the end I did in fact stand my ground and convince the rest of the jury to vote

first degree murder. Overall, this was a great experience to have, along with that it was very

enjoyable.