Book XII A Judicial Error

The narrator frames the trial’s scale and limits his account. Public fascination proves greater than expected, drawing visitors from across Russia, many of them lawyers and ladies, with special seating arranged and the hall packed beyond capacity.

Sympathies split: most women favor Dmitri’s acquittal, partly due to his reputation and the anticipated appearance of rivals Katerina Ivanovna and Grushenka; many men arrive prejudiced against him. Anticipation centers on the famed defense attorney Fetyukovitch and the ambitious prosecutor Ippolit Kirillovitch, while the humane court President views the case as a social phenomenon.

The courtroom displays key exhibits: Fyodor Pavlovitch’s bloodstained dressing-gown, the brass pestle, Dmitri’s bloodied clothes and handkerchief, his loaded pistol, and the envelope and ribbon for the three thousand roubles. The jury—petty officials, merchants, and artisans/peasants—appears stern if unlikely to some observers for such a “psychological” case.

Dmitri enters impeccably dressed, projecting composure that nonetheless makes an unfavorable impression. Fetyukovitch arrives to a subdued stir. During preliminaries, Smerdyakov’s recent suicide is officially reported; Dmitri bursts out, “He was a dog and died like a dog!” drawing a stern warning from the President and counsel’s restraint, an outburst that harms Dmitri’s standing.

After the opening statement summarizes the case, the President asks for Dmitri’s plea. Dmitri loudly admits to drunkenness and debauchery and claims he had meant to reform, but firmly denies murdering or robbing his father: “a scoundrel, but not a thief.” The President admonishes him to answer concisely, and the process advances.

Witnesses are sworn, with the brothers permitted to testify without oath. Seated separately to prevent collusion, they await examination as the court moves from spectacle to substantive testimony.