Closing Argument for Murder Trial of Ned Kelly

Closing Argument

A modern-day reenactment: the murder trial of Ned Kelly

This is the story of a courageous hero. A valiant leader and bold luminary, who was not afraid to stand up for justice. It's the story of a man who was not afraid to stand up for his family and his community, and fight to defend against an oppressive government and a corrupt and violent police force.

This brave man is Ned Kelly. And it is precisely because of his strong sense of justice and leadership ability that made him a target of the police and government.

We've seen that the police would resort to uncivilized violence for the sake of maintaining order in a rigged system, that reduced the Irish Catholics of this country to poor, 2nd class citizens. The police were blindly carrying out the British government's system, which relegated the Irish Catholics to permanent inferior status. It was a system that enforced British national superiority.

But Ned was not one to passively accept this kind of inequality. And that's what turned him into an enemy in the eyes of the government.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ned Kelly is innocent. He sits before you here today, not because of any true malice or evil that he actually harbored. He sits before you on trial for simply exercising his right of self-defense against ongoing and repeated violent and aggressive police attacks on him and his family.

The Real Story of this Trial

Let's recap the evidence presented to you in today's trial, starting from the beginning. Ned comes from a proud Irish Catholic family who always resented the culture of control and dominance established by the British empire. Ned and his friends challenged corrupt police, greedy land barons and the wealthy establishment in a quest to reform society for the better.

That's why the constables despised him. So they hunted him down, repeatedly harassed him, and falsely accused him of wrongdoing. They arrested his mother and friends only to intimidate him. They arrested Ned himself based on invented stories of stolen horses or being drunk in public. The police came to his house and instigated deadly shootouts with Ned and his friends. You heard evidence of one constable, Fitzpatrick, really had it out for Ned. He sexually assaulted Ned's sister and then spread a false rumor that Ned had attacked him.

In spite of such mistreatment by the police, the testimony you've heard here has demonstrated that Ned has a solid character. He was extremely loyal to his family, friends, and supporters. He was intelligent and articulate, and attempted to advocate for independence and dignity for his people by writing numerous editorials and letters. Yet the British-controlled newspapers refused to publish Ned's writings. Ned and his crew might have held up two British-run towns and robbed British banks, but they did so without firing a single shot. Moreover, Ned wrote numerous essays owning up to this disobedience -- he never tried to run and hide. In these letters that were ignored by the press, Ned explained that his actions were part of a larger moral movement for independence.

You saw an example of Ned's writings in his Jerilderie letter of February 10, 1879, wherein he demanded equal treatment. You'll have a chance to review that letter again in your deliberations. That letter was just one of countless examples of Ned's intelligent and civilized efforts to voice opposition to the inequalities of the British system. Ned was not alone -- his letters reflected the sentiments of countless followers. Unfortunately, rather than cooperating with Ned and his followers, the police reacted to the Jerilderie letter with even harsher and more vicious militaristic tactics.

These aggressive police approaches are part of the reason Ned became an outlaw. But it's also why he became a hero in the eyes of the Irish populous.

The incident giving rise to the charge

So, it was only in pursuit of independence for his people that Ned and his group devised the grand plan to derail a special police train. It was about declaring a Republic of North East Victoria. That led to the final battle with police, where Ned and his crew were outnumbered and overpowered by the police force.

In that battle, Ned did not kill an officer with premeditation and deliberation. Ned acted in justifiable self-defense. Let's take a look at the legal definition of self-defense:

Self-Defense

The killing of another person in self-defense is justifiable and not unlawful when the person who does the killing actually and reasonably believes:

1. That there is imminent danger that the other person will either kill him or cause him great bodily injury; and

2. That it is necessary under the circumstances for him to use in self-defense force or means that might cause the death of the other person for the purpose of avoiding death or great bodily injury to himself.

To justify taking the life of another in self-defense, the circumstances must be such as would excite the fears of a reasonable person placed in a similar position, and the party killing must act under the influence of those fears alone. The danger must be apparent, present, immediate and instantly dealt with, or must so appear at the time to the slayer as a reasonable person, and the killing must be done under a well-founded belief that it is necessary to save one's self from death or great bodily harm.

That is exactly the situation we had here. Anyone in Ned's shoes would have been reasonable in believing that his life was in immediate danger, based on the police officers firing at him with their guns like an army, and all of the previous violence and mistreatment of Ned, his friends, and his family. The police accosted Ned and his friends in this final showdown. Ned is lucky he had on armor to save his life. Although the police were certainly not on his side, fortunately, the letter of the law is.