The North Pacific v. JAL

While I lost real interest in this trial long ago, professional pride means I would like to see this resolved before the region goes down the crapper after the current election.

So PLEASE, Cakatoa. Can we have some guidance?
 
The prosecution can begin to question the defendant.

Though I don't see how this is going to work with only one justice, nor how we expect to get a jury together.
 
Forgive me, but who has called the defendant to the witness stand?

In the absence of opening statements and preliminary determinations both thebprosecution and myself will be unsure of the lines of questioning being pursued, the evidence to be submitted (if the prosecution feels like submitting any this time around) Etc.

Either way, before the prosecutor examines my client in any way, the defence requests compliance with rulenof procedure #13:

Rule 13. Use of Prior Statements of Witnesses.
A - In examining a witness in a recorded interview for use at a trial or hearing, concerning a prior statement made by the witness, the statement need not be shown nor its contents disclosed to the witness at that time; but on request the same will be shown or disclosed to opposing counsel at that time
 
I was going to ask for opening statements, but Elu already did so a few weeks ago. And I called Durk to the witness stand a few weeks ago as well.
 
Sorry - i am getting increasingly confused now. So we are examining witnesses before the opening statements are complete? And if the bench is calling witnesses, is he a prosecution or a defence witness (this REALLY matters on the issue of whether one is allowed to ask leading questions)?

If the statement of the prosecution of Nov 25 2011, 10:18 PM is his opening statement, then he intends to offer no evidence and testimony in this case. I sort of assumed that his opening statement was not complete. "he did it, yer honour" is not generally all you get from a prosecutor.

There are certain clarifications I asked for on Dec 9 2011, 07:04 AM before I made my opening statement. For the record these were:

1. Is this second hearing being conducted according to the procedures laid down by the regional assembly for trials and contained in THIS THREAD

2. Has the prosecution completed his opening statement?

PLUS. in the light of this statement by the presiding justice:

Though I don't see how this is going to work with only one justice, nor how we expect to get a jury together.
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3. Can I add a request for clarification as to how this hearing is to be decided? Usually a jury is sworn in before a trial starts. Are we going to appoint a jury during the hearing, and if so does the defence get Voir Dire rights?
 
Thank you, Cakatoa, for at least trying.

OK. So we now have an inactive chief justice and no associate justices. Can I ask that this trial either be abandoned, since we now have had .... seven (?) justices presiding and the chance of a fair hearing is now just about non-existant. failing that can the trial be adjourned until we have a functioning justice department in place?

Obviously, the defence would prefer the former option, since adjournment leaves a cloud hanging over my client and it means that the charges could be resurrected at any time for political reasons.

I am not sure, now, who makes this sort of decision. It may be Eluvatar as the AG who started this trial; it may be Blue Wolf as the current AG; it may have to be the delegate.

Either way, could someone cut through this Gordian knot?
 
Chief justice: sulking
Associate justice: resigned
Prosecutor: gone walkabout

Let's sort this out. If nobody takes control of this trial in the next 48 hours, we will consider the proceedings ended and jal declared not guilty.

Sorry, but somebody needed to show a bit of leadership in this farce.
 
I too would like to see a quick resolution to this case, however TNP's laws are so broken that the standing Attorney General is prohibited from doing the job he was elected to do in the first place.
 
Blue Wolf II:
I too would like to see a quick resolution to this case, however TNP's laws are so broken that the standing Attorney General is prohibited from doing the job he was elected to do in the first place.
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Ah, here you have a graphic indication of what is wrong with the region. we created a constitution to serve us, but somewhere along the line it was we who became the servants. I make it 4 hours until the trial is at an end.
 
Permitted by whom? There is no justice presiding, and my client will certainly not be appearing in a court with no presiding justice.
 
Eluvatar:
Well then.

I suppose the judicial situation is something for the next Speaker to resolve.
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Actually, you are best placed to resolve this farce in just four words: "I" "withdraw" "the" "charges". Then, for the good of the region, we can all move on.
 
I agree with Flem. This whole trial is a wash, we'd basically have to start over again anyway so might as well drop the charges for now and refile them at a later time if you so choose. Preferably a time where the Speaker and Justices feel like sticking around for their entire term.
 
one proviso: we still have double jeopardy laws in this region. If the charges are dropped then my client would be protected from the charges being refiled.
 
Folks, you do realise that declaration of a mistrial would mean that the whole procedings start over again, from the very very beginning?

Does anyone really have an appetite for that? Especially as the defence would immediately file for a judicial review, claiming that my client would be unable to receive a fair hearing

The best result, at the moment, would be for charges to be dropped. Then we can put this sory mess behind us and, hopefully, get a better judicial system in place before the next trial comes along.
 
flemingovia:
Folks, you do realise that declaration of a mistrial would mean that the whole procedings start over again, from the very very beginning?

Does anyone really have an appetite for that? Especially as the defence would immediately file for a judicial review, claiming that my client would be unable to receive a fair hearing

The best result, at the moment, would be for charges to be dropped. Then we can put this sory mess behind us and, hopefully, get a better judicial system in place before the next trial comes along.
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A mistrial is necessary because of what happened. The charges and the hearing are still valid.

Regretfully though, Eluvatar didn't seem to understand that he had duties to perform here for whatever reason and abandoned them for other regions, as usual.
 
Govindia:
flemingovia:
Folks, you do realise that declaration of a mistrial would mean that the whole procedings start over again, from the very very beginning?

Does anyone really have an appetite for that? Especially as the defence would immediately file for a judicial review, claiming that my client would be unable to receive a fair hearing

The best result, at the moment, would be for charges to be dropped. Then we can put this sory mess behind us and, hopefully, get a better judicial system in place before the next trial comes along.
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A mistrial is necessary because of what happened. The charges and the hearing are still valid.

Regretfully though, Eluvatar didn't seem to understand that he had duties to perform here for whatever reason and abandoned them for other regions, as usual.
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Defence will argue that a fair trial is now impossible. Besides which,the charges and the hearing were only ever politically motivated, and as such are not, and never were valid.
 
flemingovia:
Govindia:
flemingovia:
Folks, you do realise that declaration of a mistrial would mean that the whole procedings start over again, from the very very beginning?

Does anyone really have an appetite for that? Especially as the defence would immediately file for a judicial review, claiming that my client would be unable to receive a fair hearing

The best result, at the moment, would be for charges to be dropped. Then we can put this sory mess behind us and, hopefully, get a better judicial system in place before the next trial comes along.
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A mistrial is necessary because of what happened. The charges and the hearing are still valid.

Regretfully though, Eluvatar didn't seem to understand that he had duties to perform here for whatever reason and abandoned them for other regions, as usual.
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Defence will argue that a fair trial is now impossible. Besides which,the charges and the hearing were only ever politically motivated, and as such are not, and never were valid.
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There was never any proof to show it was politically motivated.
 
There was never any proof to show it was politically motivated.
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A question for my learned opponent: Is Govindia now appearing as part of the prosecution team? I know he is not part of the defence team; or a justice; or a witness.

If he continues to interfere without mandate or cause and seek to influence these procedings I shall file for contempt. Even in the absence of a justice we can have due process in this place. This is a courtroom, not a free-for-all debate.
 
flemingovia:
Folks, you do realise that declaration of a mistrial would mean that the whole procedings start over again, from the very very beginning?

Does anyone really have an appetite for that? Especially as the defence would immediately file for a judicial review, claiming that my client would be unable to receive a fair hearing

The best result, at the moment, would be for charges to be dropped. Then we can put this sory mess behind us and, hopefully, get a better judicial system in place before the next trial comes along.
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If Eluvatar has disappeared, than surely his role as prosecutor defaults to the sitting A-G? Who then can drop the charges?
 
flemingovia:
There was never any proof to show it was politically motivated.
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A question for my learned opponent: Is Govindia now appearing as part of the prosecution team? I know he is not part of the defence team; or a justice; or a witness.

If he continues to interfere without mandate or cause and seek to influence these procedings I shall file for contempt. Even in the absence of a justice we can have due process in this place. This is a courtroom, not a free-for-all debate.
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I'm giving my opinion here as much as anyone else is entitled to, even other foreign envoys it seems.

The trial is dragged on for both sides and I think a mistrial would be more sensible.

In either event, under the Constitution, Blue Wolf is technically now the owner of this case file so it's up to him as to whether to push for a mistrial, or whatever.
 
I am not here as a foreign envoy. I am here as counsel for the defence. Continued outbursts from the public gallery could be considered contempt of court, so I would hold your peace if i were you.
 
Govindia:
In either event, under the Constitution, Blue Wolf is technically now the owner of this case file so it's up to him as to whether to push for a mistrial, or whatever.
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No, Elu is still the lead prosecutor in accordance to the law until he passes the case over to me or goes inactive, which he has not done yet.

TNP Law 31 Section 3:
2) It is the duty of the Attorney General to see to completion any proceeding they are prosecuting. If for any reason, should the original Attorney General be unable to complete a pending case, then the interim or elected successor Attorney General shall take over as prosecutor and complete the pending proceedings.
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That's great and all in theory, but TNP Laws never accounted for a complete break down in the Judicial Process and our Speaker going AWOL. As such, we can't proceed until we get new Judges, which we can't get until there are new elections, which we can't have until we have a new speaker, which we won't get until elections are over.

My hands are tied, the ball is not in my court, so to speak. Also, the phrase "unable to complete a pending case" is annoyingly vague and undefined.
 
Blue Wolf II:
Govindia:
In either event, under the Constitution, Blue Wolf is technically now the owner of this case file so it's up to him as to whether to push for a mistrial, or whatever.
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No, Elu is still the lead prosecutor in accordance to the law until he passes the case over to me or goes inactive, which he has not done yet.

TNP Law 31 Section 3:
2) It is the duty of the Attorney General to see to completion any proceeding they are prosecuting. If for any reason, should the original Attorney General be unable to complete a pending case, then the interim or elected successor Attorney General shall take over as prosecutor and complete the pending proceedings.
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That's great and all in theory, but TNP Laws never accounted for a complete break down in the Judicial Process and our Speaker going AWOL. As such, we can't proceed until we get new Judges, which we can't get until there are new elections, which we can't have until we have a new speaker, which we won't get until elections are over.

My hands are tied, the ball is not in my court, so to speak. Also, the phrase "unable to complete a pending case" is annoyingly vague and undefined.
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I think a legal case could be made for you taking action. If I were the Attorney general I would make the call and see if anyone really had the stomach to try to keep this trial limping on.

If you were judged to have done wrong I would offer you divine forgiveness anyway,.
 
An amusing thought, but no Judges are around to acknowledge the case being dropped even I was to assume control. Then again, no Judges also exist to hear a case against me if someone feels I did any wrongdoing so its sort of a moot issue. Hypothetically, I could get away with anything I wanted, we effectively don't have a Judicial system left to say I'm wrong.

In my personal opinion, all semblance of Judicial Authority has been completely eroded to nothing, even if the government does have a legitimate case this trial has been so badly bungled by the abandonment by Judicial officials from their post that it should have been thrown out weeks ago. Even if we were to proceed it will take weeks to get a vote for new Judges, and we could be looking at a month or more before there is any forward progress made at all. Its a disaster and a mockery of the Justice system, but, unfortunately, the Bill of Rights does not grant nations the right to a speedy trial, only a neutral and fair trial.

Even so, as I am one of the only elected Officials in the Judicial Branch left, it is my opinion as the sitting Attorney General that this case should be thrown out due, in no small part, to the complete break down of the System itself.

Make of that what you will.
 
flemingovia:
I am not here as a foreign envoy. I am here as counsel for the defence. Continued outbursts from the public gallery could be considered contempt of court, so I would hold your peace if i were you.
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I was referring to Haor Chall and Falconkats.
 
I've applied to join the RA and assume I am simply waiting for the election to finish before I can be masked appropriately. Since that obviously means I have a nation in the region, I would think that does make me a citizen of the region despite whatever my masking might otherwise suggest.

Also, Falconkats is masked as a TNP Diplomat, not a foreign diplomat (hence, the different mask - been that way for a while) so I would assume he is already a member of the Regional Assembly and therefore a citizen too.
 
Yes even since i was voted out of the Chief Justice office i was still keeping track of this trial better thank the Justices that replaced me.
 
Haor Chall:
I've applied to join the RA and assume I am simply waiting for the election to finish before I can be masked appropriately. Since that obviously means I have a nation in the region, I would think that does make me a citizen of the region despite whatever my masking might otherwise suggest.

Also, Falconkats is masked as a TNP Diplomat, not a foreign diplomat (hence, the different mask - been that way for a while) so I would assume he is already a member of the Regional Assembly and therefore a citizen too.
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Yes I'm already aware that Falconkats is an RA member and citizen as am I.
 
With the ruling in TNP vs. Delegate Blue Wolf, this case is, by default, re-opened; however, I am suspending progress until I can sort through this...mess and determine the best course of action.
 
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