fandomhigh | Anatomy of a Trial [Period 4, Class #1, 5-13]

Class today was meeting in the Danger Room, which they might realize looked very much like a courtroom. Their professor entered with a cup of tea in one hand and a briefcase in the other.

Alex had decided the best way to teach this class -- at least this first week -- was to dive in and pretend it was a courtroom scenario, at least at the outset. They were teenagers, most of them; they should catch on rather quickly.

"Thank you for being here," Alex said, setting her briefcase down on the long table in front of her. "I know jury duty is generally seen as a thankless nuisance, but the court appreciates your civic duty. We're going to start with a voir dire session as we empanel a jury. Those of you who are selected will be seated to hear a case; those of you who are excused may go home, with our thanks."

"Voir dire means that we ask you to speak the truth. Both the defense attorney and I will be asking a number of questions so that we can be sure to seat an impartial jury, one that has no preconceptions or prejudices on the issues we're going to be facing in court. Therefore, we'll be asking a number of questions both related to the accused -- William T. Thornsmith -- and his alleged victim, as well as more general concerns.

"Once we've asked our questions, certain participants may be stricken for cause -- if either side can make a compelling argument that the potential juror is too biased to follow the rule of law -- or dismissed summarily by either side via 'peremptory challenge,' which simply means that one of us feels we'd rather that juror not serve. We only have ten each, and if either of us are caught using them discriminatorily -- that is, to eliminate members of a specific gender, ethnic group, or sexuality -- our challenges may be overturned.

"All you need to concern yourself with is answering questions as honestly as you can. The rest, you can leave to the lawyers; that's why we're so overpaid." She smiled at her students. "Shall we?"

(~~wait for the OCD!~~ OCD of wtf-was-I-thinking-DOOM is up!)

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"You can ask, if you want," Karla said quietly, raising her eyes to meet Alex's. "I generally don't talk about it, but it's not that I can't. I'm angry, not ashamed."

About the incident that brought her here, anyway. The year leading up to that however...that was a different story.

"Good," Alex said firmly, holding the other girl's eyes for a long moment. "You have nothing to be ashamed of."

Which Karla certainly knew already. She might even find it condescending to be told that. On the other hand, Alex wanted to be sure the girl was receiving reinforcement on that point, so hearing it from another person couldn't hurt.

"Let's keep to the essentials. Was the person responsible held accountable for their actions? Either legally or ... extra-legally?"

She did know that it wasn't her fault--in fact, she knew full well whose door all the blame could be laid--but that didn't mean she didn't appreciate hearing it. It still helped.

"They," she said, stressing the plural just the tiniest bit, "didn't survive the...assault. I managed to kill one and my cousin dealt with the other two when he arrived."

So close. It had been so close. Another few minutes and Morton would have been too late. Unconsciously, Karla brushed the eye that had been blackened in the fight--then realized what she was doing and put her hand down to her side.

"But they wouldn't have been. If it hadn't been for Morton. They would have gotten away with it."

"There would have been no legal recourse?" Alex asked, looking concerned.

"It was a political thing," Karla said, shortly.

She wasn't angry at Alex, of course. But that Hobart, her father's own brother, could send three grown males after his niece, all to hold onto power...compounded by what he was letting them do to Glacia proper...

"That is not how Blood law is supposed to be," she added a moment later, so Alex would understand that her people wouldn't condone such actions. "Rape is normally an executional offense. But under the current regime, it's quickly becoming a punishment in and of itself."

Also a sport. And entertainment. And...Karla was going to stop thinking along those lines before she accidentally broke something. Like a desk.

"Sounds like a misogynist's playground," Alex said darkly.

She exhaled, then reminded herself that she was supposed to be performing voir dire and not railing about the regime changes of a world she didn't live in.

"Do you feel your ... experiences will unfairly influence your decision-making abilities, as a juror?"

That description made Karla flinch a moment--not because it was apt (which is most certainly was)--but because the first thing it made her think of was Briarwood. Which wasn't something she'd be bringing up in class ever.

"If the trial has an aspect of sexual assault, then almost certainly," she replied. "Not because of the incident, but because of my upbringing. Because of the repercussions that it can have on a witch, allegations of sexual assault and abuse are investigated and punished swiftly and harshly."

Sometimes to the accused's detriment, but omelets and eggs.

Hopefully Alex would appreciate her honesty more than being upset that this was one thing Karla couldn't keep an open mind about.

"Thank you," Alex said, nodding sincerely. "To the best of my knowledge, this case does not have any connection with sexual assault. However, the defendant was involved with the deceased at the time of her death, and it's the prosecution's theory that her murder was the result of a jealous rage. Their relationship appears to have featured some very loud and public falling-outs, but there is no sign that either party was abusive. The defense may argue that the deceased was killed by a stranger, but regardless of the killer's identity, there is no evidence to suggest that a sexual assault was attempted. Is any of that going to cause difficulties?"

She had only programmed this topic in for this week; she hadn't decided yet about keeping the case for further classes. It wouldn't be hard to whip up a new one, if it was going to be upsetting to any of her students.

Karla shook her head. "In that case, no. I don't have any problems with that."

She hesitated, then added. "Though, among my people, murder is not considered a crime. That doesn't mean that it's allowable or acceptable," she continued hastily. "I also understand that it is a crime here and do not intend to hold my people's laws above this world's."

Well, except for sexual assault. But that was different.

Edited 2010-05-13 20:28 (UTC)

"So long as you're willing to enforce the rules here," Alex said, "I have no problem with that. Thank you for your honesty."

Anatomy of a Trial [Period 4, Class #1, 5-13]

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