NE: Northeast v. SomebodyWhoExists

[Oakvale]

I will be recusing myself from the Supreme Court for the duration of this trial and any subsequent appeals and will thus be representing the accused, SWE, as the lawyer for the defense.

On behalf of the defense I wish to inform the honourable Court that my client wishes to plead NOT GUILTY, and requests that he be tried by a jury as is his right under law.

[Oakvale]

Your Honor,

I thank you for the speed and diligence with which you have conducted these proceedings. However the defense is constitutionally obliged to request that this case be dismissed on the grounds that Mr. RPryor has no authority to represent the Northeast government, due to the fact that he is a sitting Atlasian Senator and thus cannot legitimately hold the office of prosecutor. It is my considered opinion as a Supreme Court justice that allowing this trial to proceed with such a glaring question of legitimacy dangling overhead would do a grave disservice to the accused, the people of the Northeast, and to the justice system itself by raising the spectre of a mistrial.

As you correctly noted in the confirmation thread for Rpryor's nomination as prosecutor -

So you can be prosecutor and Senator at the same time? If that's so, I'll support you.

Unfortunately, I don't think he can.  It violates the federal constitution to hold two offices simultaneously, other than a carve-out for Senators holding federal cabinet positions.  That there is a confirmation hearing pretty much assures that special prosecutor is an office.

Accordingly I would suggest that this case be dismissed, and, if necessary, brought to Court at a later date with a legitimately appointed prosecutor.  Thank you.

[Oakvale]

Your Honor,

The governor's invocation of a theoretical interpretation is irrelevant - while it may be that a sympathetic Court could theoretically rule that the office of prosecutor is not an office as such and thus not in violation of the Constitution, even allowing for the ambiguity around this issue prejudices the trial and would undermine public confidence in the justice system.

Furthermore, the Governor later stated that he was searching for suitable candidates to replace the Senator, indicating that he accepts the unconstitutionality of Mr. Rpryor's appointment.

The Emergency Prosecutor Act states -

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The fact that the office of prosecutor requires confirmation by the legislature clearly indicates that  it is a formal office for all intents and purposes, not a simple ad hoc title and responsibility. I would also note that the legislature noted this during the confirmation process, explicitly indicating that they recognised the dangerous constitutional ambiguity involved in naming a sitting Senator to this second position.

[Oakvale]

Your Honor,

I have no particular objection to the Governor leading the prosecution, although it does raise the question of why the Emergency Prosecutor Act was invoked at all.

[Oakvale]

Your Honor,

My client publicly posted his "ignore list" recently, which included the name of the juror smoltchanov.

I believe that, since this list was publicly posted, the juror in question may have seen it and thus harbor an animosity against my client for his admittedly crass public display of disapproval. I also believe his very aggressive identification as a "moderate" opposed to extremists of all hues, which goes above and beyond simple self-labeling, may bias him against my client due to his staunch left-wing views. I humbly request that he be replaced with a juror whose impartiality is beyond reproach.

[Oakvale]

Your Honor, if smoltchanov genuinely believes that he can in good conscience and impartially serve as a juror, I will not object.

I have no objection to the other jurors.

[Oakvale]

Your Honor,

I have nothing but respect for Mr. smoltchanov and commend his willingness to admit the question of impartiality. In the interests of an unimpeachable trial, and seeing that he is open to the prospect, I will regretfully ask that he be replaced.

[Oakvale]

Your Honor,

I regret being a pain on this topic, but I must note that AutumnLeaf displays a bias against the counsel for defense - er, me - that may prejudice him -

You are a bad guy, master oakvale TwT

[Oakvale]

Thank you Your Honor. I have no objections to Bronz and Polnut.

[Oakvale]

No objections, Your Honor.

[Oakvale]

None here, Your Honor.

[Oakvale]

No objection to Clyde, Your Honor.

[Oakvale]

My client is willing to appear as a witness for the prosecution and is glad for the opportunity to definitively clear his name.

[Oakvale]

Objection, Your Honor. The question is misleading and based on a false premise that may confuse the jury.

The Senate did not "declare war" on the far-left organisation my client joined in the spirit of anarchic comedy, but on the illegal government set up by Mr. TNF in the Midwest -

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- an entirely different matter.

[Oakvale]

I have no questions for my client, Your Honor.

I had wished to call the former Game Moderator, Mr. DKRol as a witness. I believe his testimony would have conclusively exonerated my client of the inane charges against him. Unfortunately Mr. Dkrol has not been online for some two weeks.

As such, I'd ask if I may, in lieu of questioning the then-GM, briefly address the Court to lay out the facts of the case and, with evidence, show the stark reality that the 'events' suggested by my client's exaggerated rhetoric for which he's been unjustly charged never happened.

[Oakvale]

Your Honor, members of the jury, Governor Pikachu,

In Atlasia we have a fundamental check on reality. It's the position of Game Moderator. His word is law, and unless the Game Moderator says something has happened it has not. This is crucial. Otherwise events would consist of people effectively posting "bang, bang you're dead!".

My client, Mr. SWE, stands accused of treason, one of the most heinous crimes an Atlasia citizen can commit. As a Supreme Court Justice I've had the unenviable task of being privy to and presiding over several high-profile treason cases, perhaps most infamously that of the late Snowstalker, who was convicted of high treason for his actions in the disturbances following the collapse of the DemPGH government.

 And it's because I have experience in dealing with these matters that I was outraged at the charges against SWE and recused myself from the Supreme Court to help him clear his name.

There is a stark and utterly fundamental difference between cases like Snowstalker's and SWE's. Both men made posts claiming that militia under their command were attempting to overthrow the democratically elected governments.

The crucial difference is that Snowstalker's militia existed - SWE's did not exist. How do we know this? Because the GM tell us so - prior to the appointment of a new GM, recognition of Snowstalker's militia was performed by the acting GM, then-SoIA Cranberry. No such recognition ever happened from the GM for my client's supposed group.

My client, SWE, made his supposedly "treasonous" statement on July 19th. The Game Moderator, Mr. DKrol made not a single mention of his "forces" or indeed any group whatsoever affiliated with, or even the name of, my client.

Let me be clear. There was no mention whatsoever made of my client's fictitious militias in the GM's office at any point before or after this time. None. They thus did not exist, and my client's ramblings were equivalent to that of a barstool revolutionary exercising his right to free speech, not a threat to national security.

Do we assume that because he was a member of a farcical communist group that he is thus guilty and must be punished for excercising his freedom of speech and right to free association under the Constitution? Surely not.

Under the logic of the prosecution, ladies and gentlemen, this -

*leans out window*


"MY FORCES ARE MARCHING ON NYMAN TO DEPOSE THE PRESIDENT AS WE SPEAK!"

- is an act of treason, and I should now be arrested and convicted.

That is clearly absurd.

Members of the jury, you carry a heavy burden, but your responsibility is crystal clear - you cannot convict SWE of this crime. Perhaps what he said was reckless, moronic, ill-judged. But that is quite different from active treason.

Convicting SWE, whatever you think of his politics, will render the position of GM utterly irrelevant, meaning that reality is shaped not by that esteemed office but by the random proclaimiations of ordinary citizens. It will be a dark day for justice in the Northeast, and a darker day for Atlasia. It will be injustice in its truest form.

If you accept the legal fact that reality is decided by its constitutional arbiter, the Game Moderator, then you must vote to acquit SWE. There is no other option.

Thank you.