Conversation 1
M: A recent case I heard was of a man accused and found guilty of breaking into a house and stealing some money.
W: Well, was he really guilty, judge?
M: He admitted that he’d done it, and there were several witnesses saying that he had indeed done it. So I can only assume that he was guilty.
W: Why did he do it?
M: Well, the reasons were little muddied, probably at least it seemed in a trial that he did it to get some money to feed his family. You see, he’d been out of work for some time.
W: Well, he’d been out of work and he chose to break into a house to get money for his family and apparently in front of people that, err... could see him do it.
M: His attorney presented testimony that he had indeed applied for jobs and was listed with several employment agencies, including the state employment agency, but they weren’t any jobs.
W: And he had no luck!
M: He had no luck and it’d been some time. He had two children and both of them were needing food and clothing.
W: So he was in desperate circumstances. Did you sentence him?
M: Yes.
W: But what good does it do to put the man into jail when he’s obviously in such need?
M: This particular fellow has been in prison before.
W: For the same thing?
M: No, for a different sort of crime.
W: Huh?
M: But he did know about crime, so I suppose there are folks that just have to go back to prison several times.
9. What did the judge say about the case he recently heard?
10. What do we learn about the man at the time of crime?
11. What did the judge say about the accused?