People of the Republic of Atlasia vs. Midwest Governor LeBron FitzGerald

[Oakvale]

This has been seen. As mentioned in the most recent thread our workload is obviously quite heavy at the moment but we'll endeavour to be as efficient as possible.

[Oakvale]

Just a quick update - this hasn't been forgotten but we need to clear the backlog of trials beforehand. We had hoped that Justice Torie would be able to preside but barring a response soon I suppose I will do so.

[Oakvale]

Unfortunately there's still been no word from Justice Torie, so I'm going to be presiding for this. At least the Jones trial is coming to a conclusion.

Official Atlasia Supreme Court Release
Nyman, DC

People of the Republic of Atlasia v. Midwest Governor LeBron FitzGerald

The Supreme Court of Atlasia has discussed this matter and designated senior Associate Justice Oakvale to preside over the trial of Governor LeBron FitzGerald, who stands accused of a count of voter intimidation as described in §2, c.7 of the Re-Consolidated Criminal Justice Act (2013).

The Court reminds the defendant that he has the right to legal counsel as guaranteed in Art. III, §2 of the Constitution. If he wishes to waive this right he should inform the Court of this.

These proceedings shall be governed according to  Art. III, §2 the Constitution of Atlasia, in conjunction with the Re-Consolidated Criminal Justice Act (2013).

Should the defendant plead no contest or enter a guilty plea, the jury empanelling process will be bypassed and the presiding Justice will proceed to sentencing.

The details of the trial will be announced upon the entry of a plea and the Attorney General and Mr. FitzGerald being informed.

[Oakvale]

Thank you, Governor.

[Oakvale]

Thanks, Governor. The plea of not guilty is noted.

With that, I'm adjourning the court until January 3rd, 2015 as part of our seasonal recess. When we resume I will begin the jury empaneling process. I advise both sides to consult counsel if necessary and prepare their arguments in the interim.

This trial is adjourned until January 3rd.

*bangs gavel*

[Oakvale]

Sorry for the interruption but,
This is a federal law, does it apply only for federal elections (presidential and senate elections)?

Nope, the RCCJA specifically refers to both regional and federal governance at several points. In comparison to the closely related (in this case) Campaigning for the Invalidation... act, which for some reason specifically only applies to federal elections.

[Oakvale]

*bangs gavel*

Alright everyone, we're officially back in session. I will begin arranging the jury selection. I trust both sides have used the recess period to prepare their arguments.

[Oakvale]

A criminal case requires a jury as empanelled according to the relevant regional law. As the Midwest, as far as I can tell, lacks a specific act relating to this, federal law took precedence - a jury of five impartial jurors is required.

To select this jury, the standard method was used - a number was assigned to each citizen of the region as registered in the Census Bureau, with the exception of the defendant, LeBron FitzGerald and Mr. Gustaf, who I have been informed is a witness in this case, and then a random sequence of numbers in this range was generated using random.org's random number generator, ranging from 1. (Andi aka Velasco) to 26. TNF.

The results of this random selection were:



20. MaxQue
5. BrandonCordeiro Rooney
4. BaconBacon96
11. Gass
1. Velasco

I will be contacting those selected to confirm whether they are willing to serve, and if they are not, a replacement will be selected using the same method. I will entertain any serious objection to the credibility or impartiality of these jurors from either party.

UPDATE:

Since BrandonCordeiro has not responded to my messages and has not posted on the forum since November, I have selected a replacement using the same method. The resulting selection was Rooney, who has been contacted.

[Oakvale]

Having not received any objections from either party, I am hereby asking the jury to swear in, and we will begin proceedings.

Jurors, please all repeat the following -

"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."

[Oakvale]

Thanks, everyone.

*bangs gavel*

I am now going to ask the prosecution to present its case and call any witnesses they may require. Cross-examination of witnesses by the defense will be permitted after the prosecution has concluded their questioning. Objections by either party to a line of questioning will be duly considered.

I will then ask the defense to respond and call any witnesses they may require. Again, cross-examination by the prosecution will be permitted after the conclusion of questioning, and objections to a line of questioning will be duly considered.

And with that I will ask the prosecution to begin.

[Oakvale]

I think we would benefit from seeing the referenced second chat log between Bacon King, Flo and the alleged LeBron FitzGerald. I am willing to allow time for Bacon King to return from his leave of absence but if it takes a while we may move on to the defense and return back to allowing you to call this witness.

[Oakvale]

Okay Zuwo if that's everything, I'm go to alter the schedule slightly - I'll ask the defense to present their case and then we'll move on to witnesses for both sides after.

[Oakvale]

Thanks, Windjammer. Do you wish to call any witnesses? If not I'll allow both of you a chance to respond to each other's arguments.

[Oakvale]

Thanks, Windjammer. Do you wish to call any witnesses? If not I'll allow both of you a chance to respond to each other's arguments.

Thank you oakvale, I will indeed call some witnesses. I have some persons in mind.

Okay great, feel free to call them and begin your questioning any time.

[Oakvale]

Go ahead whenever you're ready, ZuWo.

[Oakvale]

Repeat the following -

I, Bacon King, swear that I will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me Dave.

[Oakvale]

I should also note that since Vega is not an Atlasian citizen it was not appropriate to call him as a witness, though since his testimony consisted of merely affirming he attempted to impersonate Mr. FitzGerald I don't think it's a major problem. I will however ask that both sides refrain from attempting to call non-Atlasian witnesses in the future.

[Oakvale]

I should also note that since Vega is not an Atlasian citizen it was not appropriate to call him as a witness, though since his testimony consisted of merely affirming he attempted to impersonate Mr. FitzGerald I don't think it's a major problem. I will however ask that both sides refrain from attempting to call non-Atlasian witnesses in the future.

In which way is it illegal, I don't understand???

It would be inappropriate to allow a witness who effectively does not exist in Atlasian terms and is thus not subject to our laws against perjury, contempt of court etc.

If I may interrupt, your honor, I would point out that Vega only de-registered on December 28, well after this this trial thread came into being.

Thanks for the information, Mr. Registrar General, however I don't think it's particularly relevant - the issue is whether Vega was an Atlasian citizen as of the time of his testimony.

As I said, I don't think it's a major issue since his testimony was fairly insubstantial.

[Oakvale]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Yet this lawsuit is based on something that presumably happened outside Atlasia. I don't think IRC is part of Atlasia. It efffectively doesn not exist in Atlasia terms.

The medium through which the communication took place is fairly immaterial in that regard, given that the people involved (allegedly or otherwise) were full citizens of Atlasia.

[Oakvale]

Thanks, Gustaf.

Windjammer, you can cross-examine Bacon King if you wish.

[Oakvale]

Windjammer, I'm going to have to partially agree with the Attorney General here. Let's get to the point and not waste time asking Bacon King to confirm something from 2 years ago.

[Oakvale]

If there's nothing else, I'll ask the prosecution to present a closing summary, followed by the defense.

[Oakvale]

Order in the court, gents.

I've contacted the jury and instructed them to carefully examine the submitted evidence, arguments and witness testimony and to come to a decision.

[Oakvale]

Is there a way to ensure jurors don't forget about this?

Yes, and it has already been done. I've contacted the jury on several occasions to remind them of this case, and recently sent each juror a summary of the case with links to all posts by Windjammer and Zuwo & the witness testimonies.

[Oakvale]

Official Atlasia Supreme Court Release
Nyman, DC

People of the Republic of Atlasia v. Midwest Governor LeBron FitzGerald

The jury has returned a verdict in the trial of Midwest Governor LeBron FitzGerald, who stands accused of a count of voter intimidation as described in §2, c.7 of the Re-Consolidated Criminal Justice Act (2013), specifically as relates to the clause regarding contacting voters with disinformation about the electoral process.


By a vote of 4-1, the jury has found LeBron FitzGerald to be guilty of this single count of voter intimidation.


The votes were as follows:

BaconBacon96: Guilty
Gass3268: Not Guilty
MaxQue: Guilty
Rooney: Guilty
Velasco: Guilty

I will now again contact the jury to ask that they publicly confirm their votes. After that, we will progress to sentencing of Mr. FitzGerald, including allowing for time to hear both the defense and prosecution on sentencing particulars.