Trial and Error

[Nicholas Ealing]

Lieteunant Ethan Day surveyed the Briefing Room that would be today doubling as a courtroom. Today would determine whether the Daniels boy lived or died. His life was in Ethan's hands. The Lieteunant ran a slender hand through his well-combed hair and nodded formally at the amassed soldiers before him who would be serving as the jury. Many of them had travelled up from central England to help deliver the verdict while a couple of specially selected men had been picked out amongst the RWF.

He smiled wanly at the head amongst them, Staff Sergeant David Bevan, one of the five. Sitting either side of him were Nathan Knight - who looked somewhat out of place amongst the others - and the young medic Branigan, a colleage of the accused. Edward McMillan and the recently dishonoured private, Tom Edwards made up the rest of the jury.

Only two other figures were present at the courtroom. Sergeant Damian Lewis, the prosecution, in the far corner and the accused himself: Jack Daniels. His life had been torn apart by the apparent murder that he had comitted. The medic had practically confessed to it himself but days earlier although he maintained firmly that he had commited self-defence, nothing more. Ethan was not so sure but he would at least give Daniels a chance. And he didn't want to see the boy go to prison. He was a skilled medic and, besides, the inmates would rip him apart behind bars.

Ethan glanced at his wristwatch furiosuly. Where was Brennan? The Defence Lawyer was not present, almost twenty minutes late. The courtroom was hot and stuffy and its inhabitants were feeling the discomfort.

"Come on, Daniel," he muttered to himself. "Where are you?"

OOC: On the subject of the posting order, I think everyone should use their common sense. For instance, if I were to say "Has the prosecution anything to offer?" then Damian would post. And then Damian would be able to end his post allowing a gap for, say, Daniel to post. However, it makes sense for Ethan to post after every two or so posts. The Jury's posts should be sparse as there's not much they can do until the end. In the penultimate turn, the Jury can post in subsequent turns and proclaim whether they believe Jack to be Guilty or Not Guilty. After the votes have been tallied up, I will make a final post, determining Jack's sentence or otherwise.

[Daniel Brennan]

Daniel walked briskly along the narrow corridor. Doors came to sight every few metres along the walls: some open, some closed. The ones that were opened led into large airy rooms with desks covering most of the floor, or else just one large desk in the middle of the room, sometimes showing detailed maps of the land. Voices came to him from some of the ones with closed doors, but most with open doors were empty. As he reached one such open door (this time with the curtains drawn closed) he heard the sounds of men talking. He stopped at the door and peered inside just in time to here one of the higher ranking officers say "I say we attack with the tanks right along their right flank, under the cover of the typhoons, of course. They wouldn't know what hit them!" A red faced Major glared at the Staff Sergeant and practically jogged over to slam the door in his face. He allowed himself a smile before he continued on his way, glancing frantically at his watch as he went along.

He was late: he knew that much. Ten minutes are so, which was a long time to be leaving a judge. Although the man was actually a fighting man, leader of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, so Daniel hoped he wouldn't get too angry. Anyway, he had a good reason to be late. He had been supervising a training mission where he had integrated a few men from first platoon in with the tank to get both of them used the new type of combat. He didn't think at all that it was more important to arrive on time for a court sesion in which, in his opinion anyway, the accused wasn't actually guilty of the crime, rather than train the men for combat. He wasn't sure that the Jury would see it that way, though.

He still wasn't entirely sure why he had taken on the job as the defendant. He had seen the place advertised on a notice board and nobody else had taken it since the man had already confessed to being guilty. Daniel had just decided on the spot - why not? - to take the job. It wasn't like he planned on making a job out of being a layer anyway, so it didn't matter at all what happened to his reputation. Now that he had already looked at the evidence, he had decided that the man was in no way guilty and he would do whatever he could to clear the Medic Jack Daniels.

He pushed open the door of the briefing room which was being temporarily being used as a courthouse for all the petty little crimes going on around the camp. This was the biggest thing happening and I'm sure half the men would be in here if they were allowed. He walked into the room a few steps before turning and inclining his head to the Judge. "Sorry for being late, your honour. I was supervising some training with a tank." He confessed. "Those boys could hit a headless chicken from a mile away!" He added in with a wink to the jury. Instead of taking his seat he turned and walked over to beside the box in which Jack sat. "So. Are we starting?" He said, looking from the Prosecutor to the Judge.

[frank]

OOC: Not to interrupt the thread but things like this would be a good time to have the Dress Uniform in the Shop for a court date or what not.



Thanks,


~Austin!

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

McMillan fidgeted a bit as he sat in the uncomfortable wooden chair. Knowing we have to sit here for possibly hours and they may as well have given us a crate to sit on. he thought as he had a little trouble being able to move his feet in the small leg room area. He wondered what the hold up was, then he noticed that the defense had yet to show, at least the the accused had. McMillan looked over to Nathan and whispered "Since when do fly boys give a rip about an infantry medic?" he asked. Never had McMillan seen a pilot in a jury, never thought it would be for a grunt, even if he was a medic.

The door swung open and the late Staff Sergeant Daniel Brennan walked in. Poor guy, he is toast now. McMillan thought, he and Brennan had a run in a long time ago that left a bad taste in McMillan's mouth, but they had settled their differences, didn't mean that Daniel had proved his worth though. Showing up late didn't make a good start though. Should have stepped out and smoked another cigarette before this, now I'm gonna be antsy in about three minutes. He thought as he ran his hand through his hair and let out a deep sigh.

[Nathan Whyte]

Nathan looked at Mcmillan and gave a small smile. He slowly scratched his arm under the starched uniform and ran an eye over the rest of the jury. He felt his elbow connect with something and saw Private Edward's head jerk backwards. "Whoops, sorry 'bout that Tom." He turned his head back around and tried to make the wooden back a bit more comfortable. "We were told that they wanted somebody civilised in the jury, so that meant there had to be at least one member of the RAF" He let out a smile and hushed himself as the defendant burst through the door.

He leant over to Edward's ear and whispered "I reckon he's gonna turn out guilty. His lawyer's late and look at the state of those trousers. A murderer if I ever saw one." He turned his eyes onto the judge and waited for the formalities, and wondered how quickly this would be over with. He'd been in less than five minutesand was already busting for the loo.

[Nicholas Ealing]

"I'm glad you could honour us with your presence, Sergeant," said Ethan dryly, ushering for Brennan to take his seat next to Daniels. He breathed in and out slowly. The Lieutenant was in a foul mood due to the hold-up and he didn't want anything to cloud his judgement. Ethan needed to be in a completely neutral state of mind for the task that was ahead of him.

He was about to speak again when he noticed that a couple of the jury-members were chatting amongst themselves impudently. Ethan had been rather looking forward to using the infamous judge's hammer and banged it down on his desk with relish.

"Silence in court!" he barked roughly, glaring at Knight and McMillan.

The Lieutenant turned to the papers on his desk of the many individual accounts of the crime before turning almost apologetically towards the pathetic figure of Jack before him.

"The court is now in session," he announced loudly. "Lieutenant Sir Ethan El wick Day residing. The case before us is that of the crown vs Medical Technician Jack Daniels. Let the trial begin. The charge before us is that the medic Daniels did liberately, callously and brutally murder the late Private Connor Ferdinand. Let the records show that the defendant did declare himself not guilty for murder most foul and the case is very much open. I call the prosecution to the stand. Have you anything to say, Sergeant Lewis?"

[jackdaniels]

Daniels was getting nervous he couldn't beleive that Brennan was late he needed him he wouldn't have a chance without him. If he didn't show up he mikght have to defend himself and that would be a dissaster he would lose for sure.

"Come on Brennan ",he mutterd to himself.

Then about ten seconds after he came in and said

"Sorry for being late, your honour. I was supervising some training with a tank."

He then walked over and sat by Daniels . Daniels was so nervous he felt like he was going to puke he kept having flashbacks to when Ethan was was talking to him and when he confessed.


He was scared of going to prison and if he lost it would tarnish his reputation badly he would have no friends
.He then sat there waiting for the trial to begin.

[ridgway]

OOC: I am really no good at all at this court stuff. I don't really want anything to happen to you but uh I have to play my part Jack I don't know what else to say there isn't much to say.

"Yes your honor I do." Said Lewis Lewis stood up from his seat. "Your honor, Jack has brutally murdered Private Ferdinand. He has shot him with his own rifle and admitted to killing him. I find him Guilty. " Lewis then sat back down into his chair and waited for the judges response. Waiting he began shuffling through papers he had. Lewis kinda felt bad for the guy but well Prosecuting him is just his job, he had to do his job. Although he hated it so so much. Lewis looked up at the judges grim face expecting a reply any moment.

[Nicholas Ealing]

The Lieteunant was mildy taken aback by Lewis' decidedly short case. But, as always, the American's natural charm pulled through and the majority of the audience seemed satisifed with his semi-speech and so Ethan grudgingly moved on.

If Ethan had been the defendant, he would have been swimming in a sea of relief with Lewis as the prosecutor but he knew that Daniels was still feeling dreadfully uneasy. He'd practically admitted to killing the poor man and Brennan's job would be a difficult one. He wondered what was running through the jury's minds. He trusted most of them absolutely and was confident that they would make the right decision. Of course, there was always one. Or, as Ethan had previously witnessed, two. He just hoped that the younger, more impressionable members of the group would not make any poor decisions. It wasn't just a matter of looking foolish. Each one had Daniels' life in their hands.

"So the prosecution has nothing to add?" he clarified, the ghost of a smile twitching across his mouth. "Very well. Sergeant Brennan, perhaps you'd like to step in?"

[Daniel Brennan]

OOC: Well, sorry to hold you up, but I won't be back til Sunday. Just wait patiently for me to come back and for gods sake don't let Tom take my place!

Daniel waited in dread for the prosecuters addition. His fingers twitched and he pulled out the single sheet of paper from his pocket that he had his evidence written down on. The prosecutor, a Sergeant firt class by the name of Damien Lewis started his speech. Daniel blinked as the man finished talking. The man had added absaloutly nothing. Didn't he have any evidence himself to add to the case. The Judge asked whether he had anything to add and then called Daniel to speak.

He cleared his throat and uttered a "Thank you, your honour. He paused for another second, getting the speech ready in his head. Then he began: "Sir, the first thing I would like to add is, how the hell did you manage to be the judge!? Excuse my language, sorry. You are the dead mans cousin. You are the man who was so angry and overcome with grief that you grabbed my client and shook him hard, demanding to know what he had seen. Would I be correct in saying that if he wanted to, my client could halt these court precedings and demand a different judge?" Daniel stopped at this cliff hanger to catch his breath. He was glad that it came out the way he wanted it to sound. Boy, was it hard to speak fancily like that.

He continued speaking and sensed everyone paying attention to him. "Now, we will start talking about my client. Why would Jack Daniels, a renowned medic in the Royal Welsh fusiliers want to murder anybody, even if they did jump him first. And even if he did WANT to kill anybody then I really doubt he would be able to do it. Don't you realise that he is a MEDIC!? I've never heard of any case when a medic (No offense meant to anybody in the courthouse) would best a normal healthy soldier in strength. A medic simply wouldn't be trained in physical combat as much as an ordinary soldier." Daniel nodded to one of the jury whom he knew was a medic as he added in that he meant know offense towards them.

"And this still doesn't explain how the man got to be there. You said yourself, your honour that the man had been shot and killed within the hour. And I recall someone else saying that they had passed by just a few minutes earlier and there hadn't been any body there. So basically, what you must be saying is that Jack Daniels mercilessly shot and then strangled the dead man, then he carried the man all the way from where he killed him to where he was left, without getting one single drop of blood on him from the dead mans wound? Yes, is that right? And then, when a fiercly angry man practically jumped on him and then proclaimed that he must have killed his cousin, then what do you think he would have said?" Daniel looked around the room with a triumphant look on his face.

[Nicholas Ealing]

"Control yourself, sir!" barked Ethan as he lapsed into a fit of fury. "What evidence do you hold, Sergeant, that I acted anything other than professionally upon finding Ferdinand's body? I did not grab your client nor shake him, no matter what your piece of paper may say. And I must say, Brennan, that your account is not exactly specific. You recall "someone" having passed by earlier, do you? It is hardly cast-iron evidence. After all, Daniels was the first man to find the body, just one piece of the vast tapestry that makes up the evidence against the medic, no matter what you may say. Furthermore, as I have already stated, the bullet wound was far from fatal; it didn't even enter the body and therefore caused little blood loss. Blood would not nessecarily be marked upon the accused's body. And may I remind you, Sergant, that at no point did I turn on the medic Daniels. He admitted to killing the victim in self-defence and it is for us to determine whether he is telling the truth or otherwise. Your impudence will not be tolerated, sir, and you will take your seat!"

Ethan fumed furiously at the disrespectful figure before him. How dare he? How dare he charge in ten minutes late and accuse the Lieteunant of conucting anything other than a fair trial? The family bond was irrelevant; Ferdinand was many times removed and Ethan had only met him a couple of times as an adult. Ethan had half a mind to throw him from the courtroom.

"And you, Daniels," he said steelily. "If you have been feeding the defense lies about the position we are in as I suspect you have, you will be subjected to punishment no matter the eventual verdict. May I remind you, ladies and gentlemen, that lying under oath is a crime. So, I ask you, Jack Daniels. Did you accuse myself of manhandling you in front of your defense lawyer, bearing in mind that lying once more will only enroll you in more trouble?"

[jackdaniels]

He could not believe what he had hear from his friend and commanding officer who new him better than anyone els Jack stood up in disbelief and announced angrily

"You know me better than that you know me the best i this room you know I wouldn't lie about something this serious. No I did not say that you pressured me Yes I admitted to shooting him NOT TO KILLING HIM I might have implied that you were pressuring me but that might have been because your cousin died.I did knot strangle him and I have to say that I acted in self defense and yes I shot him but the wound was not fatal I did not kill him.Which means someone els strangled him so theres a killer on the loose."

With that he sat down and waited for a reply from anyone in the courtroom .Jack thought that he made a very good point there and sat there quite confidently.

[Nicholas Ealing]

"Silence in court!" snarled Ethan furiously, glaring at Jack's unwelcome outburst. "Hold your tongue, Mr Daniels, I will not suffer this bolshiness in my own courtroom. But it seems there is little else to say. You maintain, Daniels, that while you shot him you did not strangle the victim. But shall I remind you that shooting a comrade, never mind if the wound were fatal or otheriwse, is a major offense! You say you killed him in self-defence yet there is no evidence whatoever; you don't have any wounds from the victim's supposedly unprovoked attack on you. No true evidence has come to light one way or another and I must say that this has been little short of an absolute waste of time. Do any other parties have anything to add before I consult the jury on their final verdict?"

Ethan was positively fuming. All parties involved were acting in completely uncivilised manners and even Jack had shouted out of turn. Of course Ethan didn't want to send him down; he was one of his best friends but Jack seemed to think he was out to get him. There was little evidence whatsoever to support nor deride Jack's position but it was all down to the Jury now.

[devros1]

OOC: sorry about being so harsh Jack but it's time to bring the iran fist of the law

Tom had been listening to the argument for some while in disbelief. At first it seemed as if Daniells was gonna win at first but that alll changed whith his acts of aggresion.

"May i speak a moment you re honour?" Tom asked at Ethan.

"What stricks me most is that you shot him"Tom said in a clear voice.

"Why did you do it evan thought you claimed you shot him in defense why did you do it?, you ar a medic you know which wounds ar fatal but you did not know that the wound would kill him?, i find it hardly unlickly i have a writen record of what you said when admniting to murder" he said calmly

"You said"

'Yes I killed him but only because he attacked me. I was carrying my rifle to go to the range and he just jumped out and tried to stap me so I shot him and he jumped on me so I tried pushing him off he wouldn't budge so I had to roll over and I was on top of him so I got up and knocked him out and ran off I didn't strangle him I swear'"

"yet you deny that you murderd him? telling lies under oeth that is another crime and aswell i understand that medics have basic combat training, so you could have disarmed him and disabled him to allow you to escape and report him to your superious but you shot him didn't you?, and might i asked you why were you carring you rifle on you at the time i heard that you where heading for the barracks"Tom said .

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

OOC: Oh man am I gonna have fun with this...

IC: McMillan sat and listened to the prosecution, shrugging off the arrogant remark from the pilot, lucky rank doesn't matter in a jury box. He blinked twice and the man was done, Well that wasn't very convincing. Then he listened to the defense, Brennan may have been late arriving, but he came prepared and pretty much blew the whole thing into the favor of the accused. Not a bad job but then the judge lost his cool and started shouting about lying under oath. When did ANYONE in this room take an oath? McMillan thought as he shook his head. Daniels barked back at the judge only to be told his place Ouch, bad move Daniels. So far no one had put forth any evidence to prove either side of the story, and the judge seemed to be related to the victim, no matter how distant, that could have the whole thing thrown out.

Then a voice came from the jury bench, McMillan looked over as a Private stood up and started speaking to the judge. Is this guy retarded? As a juror you don't talk...PERIOD, much less to the judge. That was the job of the chairman, which had to be elected by the jurors. They had yet to elect a chairman to speak for the body of jurors, and they hadn't even been given a recess to talk the case over, no matter how short it was. McMillan stood up and stepped around the pilot to be next to the Private, McMillan looked to the judge and gave a quick smirk and held up a finger as if to say he would handle this, no need to get upset. The Private had gotten out "May I speak a moment yo..." When McMillan wrapped his over-sized hand around half of the Privates face and thrust him into his chair.

"Listen, I don't know what you have been smoking, but you DO NOT speak unless you are spoken to, here me? Whatever you had planned on saying is for either the Defense or the Prosecution to do, that is there job, hear me? If you screw this up and I have to come back in here and sit in that piece of crap they call a chair again for this case, I'm gonna have you transfered to MY command, and you can do special details for me that involve manual labor of the sixteen hour kind. Hear me?" McMillan's knuckles had been white long before he finished whispering in the idiots ear. He jerked his hand away from the man's face and took his seat, only after giving the bottom of his shirt a quick tug to get rid of the wrinkles.

This case is a joke, you have a prosecution that apparently started yesterday, law school that is, a defense that nailed the thing, in an opening statement no less, a judge related to the victim, and a half insane jury. McMillan just lowered his head in shame and shook it only to raise it up and all the way back rubbing his eyes with one hand and squeezing them together to his nose before looking back at the rest of the courtroom.