Communication Focus

The Murder Trial of Mr. Hans

The following is a part of scene in court house in a city in Indonesia. The defendant, Mr. John, h
as been charge with murder. He was accused of murdering Mr. Hans by pushing the victim from
the balcony down to the swimming pool in his yard. Many people were present in the court hous
e including the prosecutor, the defendant and his defence lawyer, the judge and some law student
s.

Prosecutor : Mr. John, did you push Mr. Hans off the balcony of your house?
John : No, I didn’t.
Prosecutor : The body was found in the swimming pool of your house. According to the
medical report, he died because of drowning.
John : He died in my swimming pool, all right. But I did not push him into it. He might
have been attacked something, who knows?
Prosecutor : Did he come to your house that night?
John : Yes, he did.
Prosecutor : Was he alone or was he accompanied by some friends?
John : He was alone.
Prosecutor : What was the purpose of the visit?
John : He asked me for money. He said he borrowed money from a number of people
and that night he was chased by creditors.
Prosecutor : Did he ever borrow money from you?
John : He never borrowed money from me; he only asked for it from me.
Prosecutor : Will you explain this nature of his visit that night?
John : Well, Mr. Hans looked drunk. There was something strange in his eye. So I just
left him and went into my room. I was always left him alone whenever he came
to me drunk. Then… that night, after a few minutes, all I knew…He was dead in
the swimming pool

During the trial, a physician from General Hospital was summoned to give a complete medical re
port on the victim. The doctor was also asked to form an opinion based on his profession as a me
dical doctor. According to a doctor, the victim was under a heavy dose of narcotics when he cam
e to see Mr. John on the balcony that night. That was why he was a little shaky and strange. At th
at time the victim was in a ‘fly drunken’ state. Because of the sense of fly, he jumped by himself
into the swimming pool and hit his head against the side of the pool. This was proven by the fact
that there isn’t indication of anybody pushing him from the balcony down into the pool. At the e
nd of the session, the death of Mr. Hans was ruled accident by the presiding judge

I. Read the dialog thoroughly and answer these questions.

1. Who are present in the court house?

2. Who are Mr. John and Mr. Hans?
3. What is the relationship between Mr. John and Mr. Hans?
4. Why did the victim come to see Mr. John ?
5. What did the medical report show?
6. How did Mr. Hans die ?
7. Why was the victim in a fly-drunken state ?
8. Did Mr. Hans always borrow money from Mr. John ?

9. How was the death of Mr. Hans ruled by the judge ?

 COMMUNICATION FOCUS

Have you attended any session in a courthouse in your district or city? If

you have, tell your experience to the class. Be sure that you use the corre
ct tense and use a simple sentences. Follow the example bellow:

Example:
Good morning, I would like to tell you about my experience at the courthouse in so
uth Jakarta last Monday.

I went there alone and at the courthouse I sat in front because I could not see very
well from the back row. A man was accused of subversive act.

He had written some article criticizing the government. He was sentenced two mon
ths in prison by the judge.

TASK

Fill in the blank with another sentences that different from the example

Good morning, I would like to tell you about my experience at the courthouse
in____________________.

I went there alone and at the courthouse I sat in front because I could not see
very well from the back row. A man was accused_______________.

He had____________. He was sentenced_____________ by the judge.