Medea's Day in Court

Medea and I walk into the court room, the door closes behind us. Everyone turns to look at us with an accusative stare. I glance at Medea; she looks strong, with her head held high and a walk of confidence. We walk to the defendant's table and sit down. I start to shuffle my papers, preparing for my defense when the door opens again. I turn around and see the prosecutor enter the court room. He also looks confident. He is wearing a crisp black suit and powerful red tie; this makes him look so intimidating. I once again look at Medea and I see her strong figure weaken. I touch her hand and tell her that everything will be fine. We exchange a nervous smile. The prosecutor sits down and looks at us; he smiles at Medea and opens his briefcase. Just then the bailiff announces, "The court is now in section. Please rise for Judge Mathis." Everyone rises and the judge enters. He looks around and his eyes fall on Medea. He smiles then looks at the prosecutor and nods. The bailiff then says, "You may be seated. We will now begin the case of The City of Corinth vs Medea."

After stating who we are, Medea is called upon to be sworn in. Judge Mathis says, "Medea, please place your left hand on the bible and raise your right hand up to God and repeat after me. 'I do solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help me god.'" Medea repeats the oath and thinks to herself, "I hope the prosecutor speaks the truth as well." She then walks back to me and sits down. The prosecutor stands and makes his opening statement. The judge calls upon me to make a statement and then things get interesting.

The prosecutor does an unbelievable job convincing everyone that Medea is guilty, but they haven't heard from the number one defender in Greece yet! I stand and call Medea to the stand. I ask her how it felt to have Jason trick her into loving him, to just have him make a fool of her. How it felt to have him marry someone else and allow her to be exiled. She replies, "It broke my heart, I love him so much, and he deserted me. If it weren't for my children, I might have killed myself." I then ask Medea why she was so insistent that her children stay with their father. Medea answers crying, "I had nothing to give them. I had no home to go to, no friends to take us in, and it wasn't their fault that their father didn't want me anymore. I wanted them to grow up to be strong and have a good life. But that won't happen now, they're dead and they aren't coming back." I tell the judge I have no further questions and Medea is allowed to step down.

I then call the prosecutor to the stand. Everyone looks at me like I'm crazy, but I know exactly what I'm doing. I state to the jury, "The day that Medea was being exiled she made a final attempt at convincing the princess to allow her children to stay with her. She even bought the princess gifts which she had the tutor take the children to give her. Medea is accused of poisoning the gifts. Why would she try to kill the person she is trying to convince to take her children?" I turn to the prosecutor, "Am I correct in saying that the tutor was angry over what Jason, Creon, and the princess did to Medea?" He says that I am correct. I then ask, "Is it true that the tutor was alone with the children while they walked to the princess' room?" He again says that I am correct. Now I go in for the kill. "Is it possible that during the journey the tutor took the gifts off the children and poisoned them?" The prosecutor is at a loss for words. I turn back to the jury, "Medea is also accused of killing her children." I ask the prosecutor who saw Medea kill her children. He replies that no one actually saw her do it but there is plenty of evidence to point to her guilt. I turn it around by saying, "Is it possible that while Medea was in the house with her children they were telling her what the tutor did? Is it possible that the tutor over heard them and was afraid of what they would do to him? Does it not seem reasonable that he may have killed the children to cover his tracks and then setup Medea to take the blame for his actions?" The prosecutor just looks around the court room. I tell the judge that I have no further questions. The prosecutor steps down.

The judge then calls for closing statements. The prosecutor makes his statement. However, he says it as if he is not sure if what he is saying is the right thing. He looks scared with the sweat running down his chin. He is acting nervous, walking around the room pacing. Then I stand up to make my closing statement. I stand tall with my head held up high. I look at the prosecutor, the judge, Medea, and finally at the jury. I talk with confidence as I recite my statement, "Medea is a woman scorned. She was tricked by Jason, she had children with Jason thinking that they would live happily ever after, and then Jason left her. Then she is accused of murdering the princess, the king, and her children, when it is clearly the tutor who did the hideous crimes. She has lost so much: her home, her husband, her children, and her happiness. Can you really say that Medea could have done all those horrible things after the evidence I have put forward in her defense? If you still believe Medea to be guilty please remember what happened to her and be kind." I sit down and the jury leaves to discuss their decision. While we are waiting for them to return Medea touches my arm, "No matter what happens, thank you for trying."

The bailiff says, "Court is now in section. Please rise," and the jury enters. The judge asks, "Has the jury decided on a verdict?" The jury foreman rises, "Yes we have your honor." The judge then asks what it is and he replies, "We the jury find the defendant not guilty on all charges." Medea and I turn to one another and hug. She thanks me and turns to Jason and gives him her condolences. I walk over to the prosecutor and shake hands with him. I tell him that he has done a fantastic job and if I had been any other defense attorney he would have won. We all leave the court room. I escort Medea out of the court house and help her climb into a carriage drawn by dragons. She will return to Athens where she will live her life in the position of a healer which was given to her by Aegeus. I walk back into the court house and enter the court room again. However, this time I am defending the tutor. A good defense attorney's job is never done. We spend our whole lives defending the guilty.