Dead Star Dockyards

The Librarian looked down on the court proceedings with a modicum of concern. She had no doubt that Donovan would be able to handle himself, she just didn't quite trust him to stay out of trouble when it inevitably arose. He might be quick on the uptake, but surely nobody would be able to perfectly memorize the Sanctum's laws and legal procedures in only a week or two, right?

"The prosecutor's statement lacks proper contextualization. I invoke the defendant's right to. . ."

She thought that, but he had yet to make a mistake. Donovan had yet to provide his side of story to the jury, a task that would require him to be very careful, though it appeared that most of the information he needed to convey was being put out in the middle of the prosecution's retelling. 

Still, Szirpty had to admit that Donovan's approach was . . . terrifying? Frightening? Shocking? She couldn't put a finger on why exactly his performance seemed so unnerving, but it definitely wasn't a complicated one.

Listen to the prosecution's story -> Identify a flaw or miscommunication -> Bring attention to the error -> Invocation of right ->Receive permission from the presiding justice -> Present the correct details as simply and swiftly as possible -> Request the approval of the prosecution -> Relinquish the floor -> Listen to the prosecution's story -> repeat.

Flowery wording was kept to a minimum, usually only being an expression of thanks towards the justice or to give better detail to the environment, and perspective bias seemed to be absent. In a word, it was a flawless execution. It wasn't perfect, no points would be awarded to him for persuasiveness or eloquence, but there was nothing inherently faulty with his approach. This was a viable and acceptable method of invoking his rights.

Given how often the prosecution accepted the details and contextualization Donovan set forth without much in the way of protest, they either agreed that this was a more correct telling of the situation or they didn't want to waste time calling in a neutral party over such minor details. This constant interruption was definitely having an effect on the jury though. Some of them seemed to have just realized what Donovan's strategy meant for them, those individuals likely having already been placed on a jury before.

"Is he delaying? No, he already knows I'm here. . ." The Librarian began to murmur her thoughts under her breath, devoting just as much brainpower to memorizing the prosecution's side of the story as she was to figuring out his strategy. He definitely had one, probably one inspired by the legal procedures of his homeland, which threatened to distract her from the duty she was here to perform.

"Is something the matter, Madam Librarian?" One of the Prime Justices she had brought along with her to witness Donovan's case tapped on her shoulder, momentarily breaking her concentration. "You seemed to be concerned about something."

He kept his voice quiet, almost a whisper, even though he didn't have to. This little observation deck was designed so that they may hear the case below in extreme clarity while those below would be unable to make much of their conversation until they bent over the edge and directed their voices downward. They could reasonably expect to speak quite boisterously and still maintain a level of secrecy.

"I was thinking out loud." She waved away his concern with an air of nonchalance, making it evident that she was pensive not concerned. "Tell me, gentlemen, what do you make of the defendant?"

Donovan was the reason that she had brought these high-ranking individuals along with her, so she might as well gauge the thoughts of those wholly unfamiliar with Terran peculiarities. These were the people meant to assist her in the rewriting of the Sanctum's laws. They would eventually become accustomed to such foreign ideas in the future, but for now they were fresh. 

"The defendant? I believe his attitude to be fairly arrogant and his words a tad grating in comparison to traditional courtroom etiquette, but I cannot identify anything inherently faulty with his process."

"Deeper. That analysis is merely surface level, magistrates could figure that out just from listening to him. I want to know what you think of his argumentation and your guesses on his thought processes." Szirpty had already informed them that the defendant of this trial, Donovan, was the person they needed to pay attention to. She hadn't told them why he was to be their focus, at least not yet.

"Given his focus on a simple and strict process, I would assume that he believes the bare minimum of argumentation is more than enough to defend his case." The Scholar had been given discrete orders not to reveal how much he knew of Donovan. "From this alone I can conclude that he is either innocent or firmly believes himself to be innocent."

"I see. Do the rest of you gentlemen have any other ideas about his process?" The Librarian agreed with the Scholar's assessment, however she wasn't going to derail this thinking exercise so quickly.

"May I ask his level of experience? Was he a justice at any point in the past?"

"This is his first time in one of the Sanctum's courtroom." Murmurs of surprise from the justices indicated how much of a shock this was to them. Even if he was intimately familiar with Sanctum law from his time in some position, he shouldn't be so good at representing himself without prior experience. Justices went through years of training to get proper courtroom conduct down, even if they were not expected to display the utmost the majority of the time. "I believe he may be somewhat familiar with courts in his home country, though I cannot confirm that."

"So . . . would his simplistic approach be less the result of vast amounts of experience and more a result of it being the only method he is confident in?"

"I think his actions are more indicative of someone who is not confident in his methods. He does not take any liberties to elaborate or argue, only correct information."

"I am of the mind that the Scholar's interpretation is most accurate." The Librarian shook her head. Their ideas had merit, but they seemed to miss an important point. "Even then, his conclusion is lacking a vital component. Do you have any idea what you all are missing?"

The Prime Justices all gave her an inquisitive look.

"Hmm. Disappointing, but entirely expected given the current way things are run at the moment. Gentlemen, even if you attempted to be as malicious as possible towards him in your treatment while still acting within the bounds of the law, could you do anything to stop him?"

"We would never-"

"I did not ask you to actually act in malice, only to think about how you might do so. Really think about it."

The Librarian enjoyed a moment of tense silence as she returned her attention to Donovan's circus, and it really was his circus. He had become the ringleader, leading everyone along the process, not allowing any deviation. Outbursts from his opponent, Rishtahn, were immediately put down either by an invocation of some right or a petition of the Justice.

"-the staff of the barracks should serve as adequate witnesses for the fight if you so desire."

"Ask your staff? They would clearly favor your telling!!!"

"To insist that those in the Sanctum's service would take a biased stance without recusing themselves is an insult to their status and character. Of those present in the room at that time, I cannot think of a more neutral party."

"Erk! You! How dare you insist that the nobility of the Bulsarzian Empire have no integrity!!!"

"Given your status in the Empire and the number of times I have had to correct the record thus far, I cannot imagine there being a single noble capable of truthfully considering themselves 'neutral' in a court of law. It is entirely likely that they will feel themselves either intimidated or threatened by your status and relationship to the royal family, accusing me of attempted murder to either curry favor with you or avoid giving you a reason to punish them in the future."

"YOU THINK I WOULD DO SOMETHING SO DISGRACEFUL?!?!"

"Don't forget the fact that you stooped so low as to attack my fiancé when she had her back turned to you? I absolutely believe you would do something like that."

"THAT NEVER HAPPENED!!!"

"Lord Rishtahn, please do not raise your voice in anger. Such behavior is unsuitable for a courtroom."

"I will NOT tolerate such slanderous acc-"

"That is ENOUGH. Enforcers, see to it that Lord Rishtahn does not make a fool of himself going further."

At this point, Justice Kurpask was now proactively putting a cap on Rishtahn without Donovan's request. Everybody knew that he would be asking Rishtahn to maintain an air of civility, so there was no point in waiting. Besides, Rishtahn was acting like a bit of a prick.

Donovan was only now being asked to present his side of the story, though from the looks of it it wasn't really necessary. Rishtahn had made enough of a fool out of himself that the majority of the jury was sitting on Donovan's side of the stand. Still, process required that the case be carried out in full before a decision was made.

"Try as I might, I do not see a method of preventing him from speaking without first violating one of the Sanctum's laws."

Chatter from behind her brought the Librarian back to her 'students'.

"Nor can I."

"I thought there might be something I could do if the prosecution raised a fuss, but even then it would be impossible to justify."

"Could we not just go out on a limb and halt him regardless?" The Librarian had to interrupt now. They might not be aware of it, but they had landed on the correct answer.

"Before I reveal my thoughts to all of you, I feel the need to remind you all that you are not the ultimate authority in the courtroom. That power lies squarely at the feet of the Head Enforcer. The reason I limited you to the legal bounds of what you could do is because any infraction of the restrictions placed upon you is grounds for your removal based on bias. Against someone like Donovan, who seems to understand those rules quite well, those infractions will not be ignored." The Librarian paused to take a breath, letting that information sink into their thoughts.

"What would that mean for a case then?" The Scholar was probably the person here best suited for an 'argument' on lawfare. He had defended the Captain when he was put on trial by the Grand Elders, and he acted as the Justice for any crimes committed on the Oberlux. He understood the roles of all five parties in a trial quite well on a theoretical level, even if he only had practical experience as three.

"It means that there is nothing you may do to prevent him from speaking. This strategy of his makes him practically invincible so long as he keeps his cool. It won't do him any favors when it comes to convincing the jury of his innocence, but I don't think that is the point. I think the purpose of this approach is to prevent the prosecution from convincing the jury of his guilt."

Some exclamations of surprise escaped the Justices' mouths as the pieces fell into place.

"So when the Scholar said that the defendant is either innocent or strongly believed that he was innocent-"

"He meant that so long as he could hold the prosecution's feet to the fire and force them to say the truth the jury could not label him as guilty with a clear conscience, correct. You must remember, the Justice is not the one who gets to decide the defendant's innocence or guilt. That power belongs to the jury. So long as they do not believe the accused to be guilty, there won't be a conviction. It is a moderately flawed system that somewhat follows the same principle found in the defendant's legal system, something known as 'the Presumption of Innocence'."

"What does that mean?"

"All things considered it is fairly simple, the accused have no responsibility to prove their innocence, the accusers must proved the accused's guilt. I'm sure that you have all heard something along the lines of 'the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence'?" The Justice's nodded. "Discard it in your thought processes, it is a total fallacy. While it is true that you may not have evidence of someone or something's presence in something, it is also true that something or someone that was never there would never leave evidence to find. To assume that something happened without having a reasonable amount of evidence that would suggest it happened leave you in the position of having to use bias to determine the accused's guilt or innocence."

". . . what?"

The Librarian suppressed a groan. 

"Allow me to give you an example. You are presiding over a case in which a claim is made that the defendant was in the area of a murder at the time it is believed to have happened. A witness is brought forth and asserts it as truth, but the defendant still claims that he was at home with his children. Under this circumstance, who do you believe is telling the truth?" The Librarian could have been able to hear crickets chirp if it weren't for the case going on beneath them. "Nobody?"

"I suppose I would have to hear their stories, wouldn't I?"

"And make your decision on which one you find more believable? That would imply the introduction of bias into your assessment, which is unacceptable for a justice of your level. In that instance you should probably maintain that not enough evidence has been brought forth to prove guilt. I recall that the case that served as the catalyst for this whole restructuring had a similar thing happen, however the Enforcer's brought along a slew of witness reports confirming the claims of the accused and their own neutral observations of the scene suggesting that it was in fact the accuser that was guilty of a crime."

"So the important factor was quantity and reliability of the witnesses?"

"Yes, but you must still exercise proper judgment. A thousand incentivized liars are less trustworthy than a single convicted bystander."

A series of nods told her that if they didn't fully comprehend the lesson she wished to teach, they at least committed those words to memory. The Arboreal Maiden had decided that the presumption of innocence would be a core component of their legal system moving forward. Content with their current development, she turned her focus back towards Donovan once more. 

"-upon witnessing Rishtahn standing over my cowering brother threatening my fiancé I identified him as a threat and moved to eliminate him. He struck out at me first, attempting to slap me with the back of his right hand. I intercepted this blow with my left arm and wrapped it around his right, hoisting it upward to apply pressure on his elbow and damage the joint. From that position I punched him squarely across the jaw in an attempt to knock him out. Failure to do so on the first lead me to pull him back up by his arm and strike his face again, and again, and again, until the bone, cartilage, and ligaments in his right elbow supporting his weight failed and he collapsed to the ground out of my grip."

The Librarian frowned. This was good. This was enough of an explanation to convince the jury that you were not acting with the intent to murder. Why were you continuing?

"I then moved to finish him off, raising my boot above his head before being stopped by my fiancé. After this I took her away from her unconscious assaulter. With this, my presentation of the night's events have concluded."

Oh Donovan, you just had to mention that bit, didn't you?