Courtroom Dramas—Auguste Mercier
Dramatic courtroom trials punctuated the Dreyfus Affair and generated its most violent controversies.
Dreyfus’s first trial, beginning on December 19, 1894, was held in closed court. No solid motive for Dreyfus’s treason was offered, and Dreyfus defended himself energetically, to no effect. A graphologist, Alphonse Bertillon, insisted the bordereau was indeed written by Dreyfus and that Dreyfus had engaged in a bizarre “self-forgery,” forging his own handwriting in order to deny the resemblance to his own hand. Major Hubert-Joseph Henry theatrically swore on oath that the traitor was Dreyfus, pointing to the crucifix hanging in the courtroom as he did so. Still, it was unclear whether or not Dreyfus would be found guilty. In order to ensure his conviction, a secret folder with falsified documents, presented on behalf of Minister of War General Auguste Mercier, was given to the judges. This sealed Dreyfus’s fate, and he was sentenced to be stripped of his rank and imprisoned on Devil’s Island.
The Affair returned to the center of public attention in January 1898, when Esterhazy—the real traitor—was acquitted by the military in a court-martial. This trial made clear to many that the military would refuse to reconsider the conviction of Dreyfus despite the emergence of the evidence against Esterhazy. It prompted Emile Zola’s journalistic bombshell J’Accuse . . . ! Zola himself faced a sensational trial for libel in the wake of this publication; he was convicted and fled to England.
Court controversy continued with Dreyfus’s return to the mainland from Devil’s Island for a second trial at the end of the summer of 1899 (August 7-September 9), held publicly at Rennes, France. Despite Esterhazy’s confession, the military insisted upon Dreyfus’s guilt. Public controversy swirled around the trial, and hundreds of journalists from France and around the world followed every moment. Early in the trial, General Auguste Mercier dramatically defended his belief in Dreyfus’s guilt, and Dreyfus rose in court to demand that he admit his error, but to no avail.
The drama extended beyond the courtroom. Henry, who had formerly sworn to Dreyfus’s guilt, had committed suicide a year before the trial began when his forgery of incriminating documents was discovered. During the trial, one of Dreyfus’s two lawyers, Fernand Labori, was shot by an extremist (who was never found) while on his way to court. After a few weeks, Labori recovered sufficiently to return to court.
On September 9, 1899, Dreyfus’s verdict was delivered: by five votes to two, he was once again convicted of treason but with “attenuating circumstances.” He was sentenced to a further 10 years of imprisonment. The verdict was met with shock by in many quarters. On September 19, Dreyfus was pardoned by the French President, Emile Loubet. But some, like Mercier, would continue to argue for Dreyfus’s guilt—and to receive praise from the French right for their actions.