Macbeth+Project+-+Ayla+K+-+Trial

A Trial Gone Wrong? Walking in you could feel the tension in the court room. Everyone seemed jittery, scared, and impatient. Everyone except Macbeth and Lady Macbeth- the two who should’ve had the most anxiety. They sat calmly with their attorney ready to face whatever accusations were thrown their way. The prosecuting attorney read off the long list of charges: multiple accounts of murder, conspiracy to murder, armed assault, breaking and entering, one count of attempted murder, and crimes against Scotland and Nature. As witness by witness came to the stand, the jury was able to piece together a story of betrayal and murder. However, almost everyone could tell that it was not a story anywhere close to the truth. The jury finally came to the conclusion that only Lady Macbeth would be charged and she would be charged for the murder of Duncan. There was some speculation about the education of the jury. Everyone was aware that they were mostly farmers and bakers and therefore, they might not know the ins and outs of a trial, but it was expected that they would come in to the trial with no previous notions or biases of the people being tried. They seemed more focused on the fact that people weren’t confessing to the crimes instead of paying attention, listening and watching the prosecutor and defense ask their questions. I don’t doubt that they were all very good their jobs (farming and baking), but maybe the court of law isn’t their place. The final verdict was very surprising and is making everyone take a look at the way trials are run. There was absolutely no evidence that would have incriminated Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The only inconsistency the jury was able to identify was Lady Macbeth’s story connecting her hallucinations (see p.3 for the story of the questionable doctor brought in to be a formal witness) to the death of her Siamese cat. It was obviously false (Siamese cats weren’t brought to Europe till the 20th century) and so the jury decided that if she was lying about that, she was probably lying about murders that had been committed. They pinned the murder on Lady Macbeth with no evidence. There is a rumor that Lady Macbeth’s attorney is filing for an appeal- more to come on that situation later.

Official Court Reporter for the Scotland Press Ayla Kaufman