Atlasia v. East Coast Republican

[Sam Spade]

It is now been 24 hours since I sent a checkup PM to Andy Jackson.

Due to the necessity of continuing this trial in a speedy manner, I must therefore find Andy Jackson in contempt of court and order that his voting privileges be suspended until he posts in this thread or this trial is over. 

I am well aware of the Contempt of Court Act passed by the Thirtieth Senate and its insistence that such actions be prosecuted as crimes.  He last visited this forum on October 30, 2009 at 8:26:39 AM, so the Act is relevant

It is my opinion that if Andy Jackson does not contact me in this thread before the end of the trial, the dogs of war shall be let open by the Justice Department.  If he does and provides good reason for such absence prior to the end of the trial, I shall determine whether he is prosecutable for contempt of court under the Act.

As this trial must proceed, I have consulted the I Ching and selected another juror from the pool.  The lucky citizen who gets to participate in this jury's august deliberations is:

PiT (the Physicist)

He shall have 48 hours to swear in - or I have to consult that I Ching or a Chinese prostitute again...

[Sam Spade]

I have sent a PM to Andy Jackson with the text of the previous post.

I have also sent a PM to PiT as per this last post.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I swear (or affirm) that I will well and truly try the matter in issue between the parties, and give a true verdict according to the law and evidence, so help me Dave.

[Sam Spade]

I have been contacted by Andy Jackson and have a legitimate excuse for his not answering the jury summons.

Therefore, I waive the contempt of court citation against him and release him from jury service.

Counsel for the state, you now have 72 hours to present your case against the Defendant.

[Sam Spade]

Just bumping this for bgwah.

[bgwah]

In the early hours of October 21st, East Coast Republican posted a fake voting booth claiming that it was the "real" voting booth and that the official booth for the October 2009 election posted by SoFA EarlAW should be disregarded. The now-deleted thread would have been found here. A screen shot of his fake voting booth can be found here.

This is a violation of the Second Amendment to the Consolidated Criminal Justice Act, which states that "The performance of the duties of a cabinet official or deputy cabinet official without proper promotion or appointment" is illegal.

East Coast Republican was illegally attempting to perform the duties of a cabinet official--the Secretary of Forum Affairs.

[Sam Spade]

Are you through with your presentation, bgwah?

[bgwah]

Yes.

[Sam Spade]

Defense counsel now has 72 hours to present his case.

[Sam Spade]

Bumping for Hamilton.

[Alexander Hamilton]

I'm just going to make a few points.

1. The "voting booth" created did not contain any sort of official ballot or rules, meaning that it was not a performance of the SoFA's duties.
2. It was clearly a joke, as evidenced by the "votes" cast in the "booth", and there are witnesses of this.
3. As the SoFA's duties do not include opening a voting booth that A) Has no candidates, B) Contains no official ballot, C) Making joke threads, and D) Creating an obviously fake booth.

Given these points, it is clear that East Coast Republican did not impersonate or perform duties of the SoFA, and therefore, did not commit an Atlasian crime.

The idea that one can be punished for making a clear joke sets very bad precedent. We start getting into the territory where you have to watch everything you do and say or else fall victim to an AG witch hunt. I'd hope the charges are dropped, but ECR is clearly NOT GUILTY. NOT GUILTY OF ANY CRIME UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT WHATSOEVER.

Thank you

[Sam Spade]

Are you through with your presentation, Hamilton?

[Alexander Hamilton]

Are you through with your presentation, Hamilton?

No.

[Sam Spade]

Are you through with your presentation, Hamilton?

No.

Well, then, I'm giving you another 24 hours to complete it.

[Alexander Hamilton]

Are you through with your presentation, Hamilton?

No.

Well, then, I'm giving you another 24 hours to complete it.

Thank you, your Honour.

[Sam Spade]

Defense counsel's time for presenting his case has now passed.

I will now give the prosecution 24 hours, if he chooses to use it, to rebut anything in the defendant's case.

After the rebuttal, we will proceed to closing arguments, after which I shall charge the jury.

[bgwah]

"It was a joke" is no defense. If a person hacked someones account and then claimed it was only a joke, would that make it okay? No, of course not.

The law was created as a direct response to fake voting booths.

Nothing else in the defendant's case is worth rebutting.

[Sam Spade]

Both Defense counsel and Prosecution shall now have 48 hours to present their closing arguments to the jury.

[Alexander Hamilton]

The prosecution was unable to provide an adequate refutation of the defense's legitimate claims. Not only was it a joke, but it was not a performance of the SoFA's duties. Therefore, legally, we cannot prosecute East Coast Republican. The SoFA is required to open voting booths that contain the official rules and the official ballot. Without the presence of this, the actions at hand can not be considered a performance of said duties. East Coast Republican did not commit a crime and should not be sentenced.

[bgwah]

East Coast Republican is a troll and his sole reason for posting on this website at all is to annoy and disrupt. He was even given mod review, and we all know how rarely Dave actually punishes people, so it is clear that ECR is a rather extreme case.

His fake voting booth was not only an illegal attempt to perform the duties of the SoFA, but it was a malicious attack on Atlasia that intended to disrupt the Presidential election--the very core of Atlasia.

One of the few crimes worse than what ECR did would be to let him get away with it.

[Sam Spade]

Excellent.  I will charge the jury tomorrow morning.

[Sam Spade]

As both parties have now read their closing statements, I shall proceed to charge the jury.

The defendant is charged with violating the Second Amendment to the Consolidated Criminal Justice Act, which states:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

In order to find the defendant guilty of this crime, you must therefore answer the following two questions in the affirmative.

1.  Did the defendant perform the duties of a cabinet official or deputy cabinet official?
2.  Did the defendant at the time of the alleged crime lack proper promotion or appointment to perform such duties?

Jurors may choose to discuss the case here, and may cast their verdict as soon as they feel they have come to a decision on the facts.  Under the Jury Reform Act, as interpreted by myself as judge, the decision of three jurors is sufficient to determine guilt or innocence.  

To give jurors a chance to reflect on their decisions, jurors are free to change their decision until a final decision is reached.  To allow sufficient time for them to do their job, no verdict will be considered final until both 72 hours have passed since the jury was charged, and three jurors have agreed on the same verdict for a period of 24 hours.

If jurors have any questions, they may ask the judge.

NOTE:  Until a decision is reached, a post in this thread by anyone other than a juror or this judge may subject the poster to punishment for contempt of court.

[SPC]

Guilty

[jokerman]

Guilty.

Although personally I'm not sure the aforementioned statute intended to deal the kind of action ECR perpetrated, I'm willing to stretch the spirit of the law to punish an action that was malicious in intent and malignant in effect.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Not Guilty.