The Dreyfus Affair Lesson 4. Mock Trial Dreyfus Affair - Lesson Plans Lesson 4 – Mock Trial Student copy of Arguments for the Prosecution Original Prosecution Team Auguste Mercier Occupation General, Minister of War Relation to the Trial Auguste Mercier was the most prominent of those who testified at the 1899 trial that they believed that Dreyfus was guilty. Alphonse Bertillon Occupation Police officer, forensics expert Relation to the Trial Alphonse Bertillon testified that Dreyfus wrote the bordereau, but he disguised his handwriting to make it look like someone else had forged Dreyfus’s handwriting. Note: Bertillon was famous for his innovations in police work. He standardized the mug shot and created many forensics techniques. The following research has been compiled by your staff to help you make your arguments. Find evidence in your packet to prove these assertions. You can also make new arguments of your own. 1. Alphonse Bertillon is world-famous and widely respected. He is an innovator in the field of forensics. He believes Dreyfus wrote the bordereau based on his knowledge of handwriting. 2. Alfred Dreyfus was born in Alsace-Lorraine, a border region that is now part of Germany. His ancestors were born in Germany before his family moved to France. He might have pro-German sympathies. 3. Ferdinand Esterhazy wasn’t an artillery officer, and he was lower ranking than Dreyfus. He could not have had access to all the secrets that the bordereau promised to deliver to the Germans. Dreyfus did have access to these secrets. 4. The Minister of War and nearly every officer in the Army believes Dreyfus is guilty. The army protects France and how it disciplines its own officers shouldn’t be questioned. 5. A court in 1894 convicted Dreyfus. If Dreyfus is innocent, then both the justice system and the army would need to be wrong. From the Lorraine Beitler Collection of the Dreyfus Affair Kislak Center For Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania Page 1 .