Law & Order: Opening Statements/Prosecution's Case

[cityship]

Word of the trial had spread through the crew like wildfire. Some of the crew had already made their decision about the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Others were less certain. But all awaited the first day of trial anxiously. That day had come....

Anticipating widespread interest, one of the larger conference halls in the Precinct had been converted into a make-shift court room. Captain James T. Kirk would be presiding as judge, Nathan Petrelli would represent the prosecution, and Mr. Spock would sit across from him, mounting the defense.

Eight neutral, unbiased members of the crew had been selected for the jury: Jamie Hemeros, Arha Masaari, Chris Ramirez, Malcolm Reynolds, Diana Titov, Sir Sparhawk, Fitz Kreiner, and Cameron Mitchell. Each had been informed not to discuss the trial, even amongst themselves.

The charges had been presented to the court:

11 counts of Kidnapping
2 counts of Attempted Kidnapping
13 counts of Conspiracy to Kidnap
11 counts of Enslavement
2 counts of Attempted Enslavement
13 counts of Conspiracy to Enslave
7 counts of Attempted Murder
28 counts of Assault with Intent to Kill
35 counts of Conspiracy to Commit Murder

For the first portion, the Prosecution then the Defense would present their opening statement. After which, the Prosecution would begin to present its case and call upon its witnesses.

Security was high, following Sam Winchester's uncovered plot to kill the Yeerk despite the verdict, the command worried that violence could be just around the corner.


Let the proceedings begin....

Comments

Opening Statements...

[cityship]

...by Nathan Petrelli and Mr. Spock.

Re: Opening Statements...

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

Nathan stepped forward, looking confident and at ease in this environment. Clearly it was familiar territory for him. Just think of the Yeerk as another perp. Or in this instance, an enemy combatant.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, what we have here is a representative and member of an invading force. A terrorist that would stop at nothing to enslave others, or murder to fulfill its own means. An invasion that did attempt to sabotage this very ship and endanger the lives of all sleeping and awake on this vessel. I intend to prove to you all that this being remains a willing and eager participant in the heinous actions of its brethren, and should therefore be considered a likewise threat to our very liberties and lives."

[outweightheone.livejournal.com]

Spock's movements are altogether more ponderous. As he gives his statement, he paces about the court room as if it were the bridge of the Enterprise, both arms tucked into the small of his back.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. You may forgive me for the brevity of my statement, given the brevity of our situation. I am a man of logic; some of you will no doubt be aware. We are in a time of war and it is important for us to remind ourselves of the difference between passion and rationality."

His gaze having previously skirted along the floor, he wheels on the jury and offers them a cool, stoic stare, "With this in mind, I ask you to consider not simply the perspectives of the alleged victims of this case, but of the defendant also. It is indeed true that said defendant came here as a member of an invasive and ruthless empire with the intent of subduing the entirety of this crew. It is also true that those who suffer worst under empires are often their own people. A war trial this may be, but that does not mean we should disregard the uniqueness of the defendant's case. Because I am of the belief that he is as much a victim of the Yeerk Empire as our crewmates, our colleagues, our friends. He wanted no part in this insurrection and did so only under the fear of the reprisal of, as I mentioned earlier, an invasive and ruthless empire."

And to conclude, "He has expressed penitence and claims no further fellowship to his former cause. I am of the belief that the threat he poses to this crew is no greater than that of our own people and as such there is no logical reason for punishment beyond his current incarceration. I ask only that the members of the jury judge this case with their heads and not their hearts."

Prosecution Witness: Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

[cityship]

Direct Examination by Nathan Petrelli

Re: Prosecution Witness: Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

Nathan stepped forward to address Ax on the stand after he had been sworn in.

"Ax, many of us know your people are the most familiar with the race of the defendant. Could you explain to our jury your background and experience with the Yeerks?"

Re: Prosecution Witness: Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

< Of course, > Ax answered. < At the time I was abducted by this ship, I had been on Earth for two of its years, engaged in guerrilla warfare against the Yeerk Empire; after a very short period of time spent in the Andalite military. The primary force defending Earth's freedom consisted of myself, Tobias, and four other human teenagers. The six of us regularly engaged the Yeerks in skirmishes, destroyed their equipment, and attempted to interfere with their plans as much as possible. They spend a great deal of time and energy attempting to hunt us down and infest or kill us. >

Ax took a deep breath. < Shortly before my abduction, the Yeerks attempted to start a nuclear war between the countries of the United States and China, which we thwarted. >

Re: Prosecution Witness: Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

Nathan walked back and forth in front of the stand.

"So clearly their aggression wasn't merely against your own people but others as well? They were willing to attack anyone?"

Prosecution Witness: Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

[cityship]

Cross-Examination by Mr. Spock

Prosecution Witness: Connor MacManus

[cityship]

Direct Examination by Nathan Petrelli

Re: Prosecution Witness: Connor MacManus

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

Nathan stepped forward, "Mr. MacManus, could you please explain for our jury, some of the actions that you and your brother did under duress of the Yeerks?"

Re: Prosecution Witness: Connor MacManus

[st-veritas.livejournal.com]

"Aye." Connor shifts his weight, looking guarded. "We attacked others. 'S about it. They were more interested in managin' us than movin' forward."

Re: Prosecution Witness: Connor MacManus

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

"Could you explain what that involved?"

Prosecution Witness: Connor MacManus

[cityship]

Cross-Examination by Mr. Spock

Prosecution Witness: Tim Drake

[cityship]

Direct Examination by Nathan Petrelli

Re: Prosecution Witness: Tim Drake

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

Nathan remarked, "Mr. Drake, could you please some of the actions you had to take while under duress of the Yeerk?"

Re: Prosecution Witness: Tim Drake

[mrsarcastic003]

Tim resists the urge to fold his arms defensively across his chest. He doesn't want to be here, and he doesn't want to answer the question. He feels like he's done enough rehashing with Dick and his friends. But--fine. He meets Nathan's gaze evenly.

"I helped to put others under the control of the Yeerks, but my major job was to use my experience and tactical training to figure out how to take down and kill the metahumans that would be too difficult to control." He swallows hard. "Like Superboy and Supergirl. I came... uncomfortably close to killing both of them, along with Blue Beetle."

Re: Prosecution Witness: Tim Drake

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

Nathan remarked, "So they were using your own knowledge against us. Did the Yeerks seem united on these goals? Was there any cross-communication?"

Prosecution Witness: Tim Drake

[cityship]

Cross-Examination by Mr. Spock

Prosecution Witness: Querl Dox/Brainiac 5

[cityship]

Direct Examination by Nathan Petrelli

Re: Prosecution Witness: Querl Dox/Brainiac 5

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

After Brainiac was called, Nathan strode before him and then asked, "Mr. Dox, you had an unique opportunity to get information from one of the Yeerks. Could you please describe some of your findings?"

Re: Prosecution Witness: Querl Dox/Brainiac 5

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"Coluans have rather unique neural structures and thought processes as compared to other species, and I am unique even among Coluans. I have multiple tracks of consciousness and conscious control over most of my thought processes. When the Yeerk attached itself to my neural matter, it was unprepared to control a host with such mental control of its own. I was able to reverse the control with considerable effort, however, as I had to bombard it with complex thought processes from multiple tracks of consciousness, it was disoriented and I had difficulties maintaining such control," he explains, rather unnecessarily.

But it's an explanation for a relative dearth of data, in his opinion.

"Thus, I did not have the opportunity to withdraw and catalog much of the data I had access to, but I was able to uncover most of their plans for the ship, some information about their captivity on the ship, and some basic intel on the Yeerk Empire. Most of this information was colored by Erzak-1172's perceptions, however, and as he was somewhat low-ranking, said intelligence was somewhat limited. He lacked knowledge of the complete roster of Controllers, for instance. Cybil Bennett's infestation had been kept secret from him."

A pause. "I should note, one of the articles of information I gathered that was most significant was that the Yeerks were captives on the ship, much like we are, and another was that there appeared to be tampering or erasure of part of Erzak's memory."

Prosecution Witness: Querl Dox/Brainiac 5

[cityship]

Cross-Examination by Mr. Spock

[tobiasf.livejournal.com]

The whole thing had a strong sense of deja-vu for Tobias. He had gone through it several times during the World Court's trial of Visser Three and some of the other Yeerks after the war. He didn't speak much to the others though, except his father, who he had talked about it with earlier; they had not experienced all that he had. He still wasn't sure what side he was on. He struggled constantly with his feelings and knew the others must be struggling as well. He could imagine the rest of the team split if they were here: Cassie would want the Yeerk saved, Rachel would probably want it dead, and it was harder to tell about Marco and Jake, given their respective histories.

[crazychanger.livejournal.com]

Blitzwing, on the other hand, was rather interested in the whole thing. He'd seen court proceedings often enough (usually experienced first-hand; he had a bad track record and was noticeably proud of it. He was a Decepticon, after all.) but this would be the first time he'd seen a court system different from the Autobots.
He simply didn't care. As long as something exciting happened-why not?
Icy had to suppress Random's maniacal excitement, with some annoyance, and turned to Tobias. He had to do something to pass the time, and conversation with organics was not below him. They were usually quite interesting, at least aboard this ship. Being the same size certainly changed his perspective.
"Having fun?" he said dryly, noting the look on Tobias' face. "You seem rather familiar with zis sort of thing."

[tobiasf.livejournal.com]

< To a point. The courts of my world had trials for the Yeerk leaders after we defeated them. > Tobias replied, noting the robot creature's tone and attitude. He didn't see a need to get angry at the moment, but he'd be on guard.