Elizabeth Ross sat half-way down the side of the long table in the jury room, studying the others there, offering a smile for Lucy, the young woman who had been sitting beside her in the courtroom. Drawing herself to her full five-feet-four-inches of height, her long blonde hair cascading down her back, she addressed the gathering.
"We're here to judge the facts of the case of the FSBA vs. Edward Johnsson, charged with Murder in the First and Second Degrees and Aggravated Assault to an unknown number of members of the Freakshow 'gang'. I use the term loosely, of course. We have all heard the evidence presented, and as the judge informed us, it is not our duty to let any sort of personal feelings enter into our deliberations, but to determine the facts of the case. Which are, as far as I can see: Did Edward Johnsson knowingly and willfully kill members of the Freakshow gang? Did Edward Johnsson use a level of force in excess of those required by his duties as a citizen of Paragon in the pursuit of the safety of his fellow citizens and those with him?"
She paused, an almost palpable aura of power seeming to crackle the air around her. "I would call for an initial vote on the charges. If we are unable to make a unanimous decision, we shall discuss the charges in further detail."
Sitting back in her chair, she once again seemed like a young woman in her early twenties, nothing special about her at all. "On the charge of First Degree Murder, I vote Not Guilty. On the charge of Second Degree Murder, I vote Guilty. On the charge of Aggravated Assault, I vote Guilty."
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise 
; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
(Posted on Behalf of Hidden- Who has idiotically forgotten his login password for the Boards)
Rob Evans nervously looked around the room, typically shuffling his hands and eyes darting around the room- careful not to make eye contact with anyone.
He watched Liz carefully- then- taking a sip of water he spoke as loudly as he could muster- Careful not to stutter too much "On the charge of First Degree Murder, I vote Not Guilty. On the charge of Second Degree Murder, I vote Guilty. On the charge of Greivious bodily Harm, I vote Guilty.."
He quickly added, albeit nervously "Although the trial itself seemed a little.. unfair.. I base my decision on the information available.."
Falling back heavily into his chair he let out a long sigh.
Light Keeper drum ed her finger on the desck " with the evidence we can see that he may have kiiled the freeak but for all we knwo the freaks could be lieing about ed killing them and inteended to frame him i mean so what if he had so guy t bust him out that is simple human natural to want to be free i dont see how that could be used as evedicne i will vote when i have heard more *sighs* i cant see if his guilty or not in eny chagres"" then take a sip of water ""well i geuss with what was there i cant make a distion at the time i will make my vote when i feel ready"
Soaring Horizon leans back in her, slightly too small for her chair, the Claymore she usually bears across her back propped up against the wooden table. After mouthing a few strange words at the seat she settles into it a lot more comfortably and addresses the room.
"Forensics said he killed them, he never even seemed that keen to deny it. That and he tried to pervert the whole system by being busted out if he was found guilty. It's not the actions of an innocent man. "
Sighing she carries on in a slightly more zealous tone "I'll be honest, I think the Freaks practically deserve it, but the laws the law. Letting Heroes kill people isn't going to ever end well. Guilty to all but First it was more a moment than pre-planned."
Healing Storm created a triangle with her fingers and peered through them. She sighed thoughtfully.
"First degree murder, not guilty. Second degree murder, guilty as charged. Aggravated assault, guilty as charged. Just one further point to add! A witness claimed the defendent planned to break out, this is mearly speculation. We are not here to convict someone for what they may or may not do in the future."
((edited because I misunderstood the terminology))
@Wild Red
"In the Rogue Isles, loyalty goes to the highest bidder." Wild Red
Silent the entire time, deep in contemplation, Split Reality sat there. He was unnaturally still, the stale air and dust floating around him as he thought hard about the descision to be made. Finally, when all was as silent as he was, he looked up.
"Whilst I do vote not guilty on first degree murder, I vote guilty on both second degree and grevious bodily harm. I think he went beyond the call of duty."
His moment in the spotlight over, he relaxed, sat back in his chair and listened to the votes of everybody else. He drifted back out of peoples consious mind, to be forgotten, as he often did.
((That's six out of eleven jurors who were present. I may get in trouble for this, but I'm going to take Pix's part - she can yell at me when I get home))
Pix shifted in her seat, brushing a hand across her forehead, absently missing the presence of her comfortable beret, as she weighed the words of the attourneys, struggling with her conscience. It was unlikely that Edward Johnsson had intended to kill anyone, but there was little doubt in her mind that he had gone too far. But did she believe that he was actually guilty of Second Degree Murder? After all, her years of experience in the slums and byways of Paragon City had proven that Freakshow could survive insane quantities of harm, while serving up some serious pain at the same time. The Freak might have survived, normally. But he hadn't. He'd died of his wounds. Nothing could change that, and while she was desperate to believe the death had been 'suicide' - after all, juicing yourself up on drugs, and getting cybernetic implants just so you could cause trouble was a pretty damn good way to attract the negative attentions of the City's myriad heroes - she also knew that if it had been her, he would probably have survived for long enough to get Zig-tagged. Or her employer. Or any of the other dozen or so heroes she dealt with on an almost daily basis. The Freak shouldn't have died.
Clearing her throat, she looked around. "Murder One: Not guilty. Second degree Murder: Guilty. Aggravated Assault: Guilty. The 'crime' of looking to be broken out of jail isn't something he's being tried for, so we can't judge him for it. He didn't go in there looking to kill anyone, but he did. It was a heat of the moment thing, not something planned. The message we send out here today is the message we will be sending to all other heroes in the city - stay in control."
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise ; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
Sirius Clarke nods slightly as Pix speaks and clears his throat as she finishes before speaking, his eyes glowing with a purple sheen and his voice overlaid with that of the non-human half of his warshade bond.
"We find we must agree with the lady. Mistakes were made, some perhaps understandable given the nature of the opponent yet still mistakes none the less and, though we perhaps wish otherwise, we must also agree with finding him guilty of second degree murder and of aggravated assault.
However, based on the admissable evidence presented we do not believe him to be guilty of first degree murder, and as such find him innocent of this charge. Now on the matter of whether he had made arrangements to escape from custody should he be convicted, we feel it is not something which should have any bearing on our decision, merely the charges presented to the court and the relevent evidence to either support or deny those charges."
Sirius pauses before speaking again, this time solely in the voice of his non-human half "We recognise that the individual in question once was a recognised 'super-villian' but at the same time he had made attempts to make ammends for his past much as those like myself have....we were once Nictu and while we may have now chosen a different path we can never change or forget what we have done before we chose something different....it is my hope that, while he is found guilty of the relevent charges, as indeed he must if we are to prove that no-one can be above the law, at the same time he can be showed some quantity of mercy when sentence is passed."
Roleplayer and member of "The Unity Vigil"
Characters: Union (Heroes) -
White Warlock Lv50 Ill/Storm Controller
Black Providence Lv50 MA/SR Scrapper
Starwhisper Lv50 Peacebringer
Patsy Crusher maintained a somewhat lazy 'thinker' position in her seat - her head resting on her fist, propped up by her elbow resting on her leg - as she looked around at the others, silently running through everything she'd heard through her head. She'd failed to bring a notepad like a few of the others, but she did have an excellent memory - something that really helps if you're going to live forever.
After putting as much thought into it as she could, her fist opened out, allowing her to plant her face in it, almost knocking her glasses off as she pushed them up onto her forehead.
"Yeah..." she piped up in a slightly frustrated tone, her face still in her palm. "Murder One, Not Guilty. Second-Degree Murder and Aggravated Assault, Guilty."
Sam: "My mind is a swirling miasma of scintillating thoughts and turgid ideas."
Max: "Me too."
Stuff
"" I agree with you my fellow jury members and tyhat they has to be i limt and that some breaking hi out if found guilty is noty on the tocpiec so first dergger murder i find him not guilty the rest i find find him giulty " she sighs" i hope that people will see thorught this event and studty a person before subjecting them to a event but thta doe snot matter here"2 she then sits down whats for the other ti finsh the voteing while reading a atom converstion book
((I make that 10 out of 11, so far. Who are we waiting on?))
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise ; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
Eientei leaned on the table with his fingers locked together, still thinking as the other jurors made their votes. Once the others had finished, he spoke up "For second degree murder and aggravated assault, I, as both human and warshade, vote Guilty. As for the first-degree murder charge, I vote Not Guilty".
Settling into a more relaxed posture, he muttered under his breath "I just hope we're doing the right thing..."
Liz nodded quietly as Eientei spoke, her eyes flashing silver at his last words.
"The jury is unanimous in its verdict on the charges. It is now up to the Judge to decide on Mr Edward Johnsson's fate, considering his past, his actions, and his heroism. May all the gods have mercy on his soul."
Rising from her seat, she smoothly walked to the door of the chamber, and knocked. It was opened by a bailiff, and Liz addressed him, formally. "We have reached a verdict. Please so inform the Clerk of the Court."
She turned back to the others, and smiled, sadly. "We have done our duty. Now we wait and see what happens to the man we have condemned."
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise ; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.* Healing Storm looked at her hands and sighed. Her sadness at the predicament showed in her eyes. She had seen much worse desctruction caused by the freaks and maybe Darkness Redeemed had acted in self defense. It's just the evidence did not point that way. She lost herself in her thoughts, even though the evidence showed Ed as guilty she would never doubt a fellow hero's intentions for justice to be served.
@Wild Red
"In the Rogue Isles, loyalty goes to the highest bidder." Wild Red
((ok may I ask Cass, who is the Judge to deliver the verdict on Edwards crimes))
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!
Judge whitey, with unusual solemness, talked on how he had considered both the verdict, and the until then reformation of Mr Johnson, but that at the end of, it what he was doing, and how he came to be fighting the Freakshow, the longbow reports from the hospital, and he recored while in the city.
but finally he had no choice, but to sentence Mr Johnson to 10 year in prison. and the perminat revocation of his hero license or right to hold one.
Ed heard the sentence and hung his head, muttering, "The laws of man are nothing to the law of God, heathens shall suffer..." he looked to the Jury, "true justice was done that day...this is not justice."
He was lead away to the holding cell, awaiting his tranportation to the Ziggursky prison, he flexed at the handcuffs, seeing they were made of Impervium, not something even someone with Super Strength could break out of.
Edward was locked in the meta-being holding cell, left alone in the dark. Thoughts running through his mind, thoughts about true justice and that mankind was too weak of faith to see it administered, he would show them true justice, he would show all of them true justice if it was the last thing he did...
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!
((This topic is for the jury at Edwards trial do decided on their verdict and such. For this it is a closed RP as only the people on the Jury can actually decide.
Once again I would like to thank all those involved in this storyline and to the creators of the Rhode Island Supreme Court supergroup base, it is indeed very awesome.
Let the verdict begin!))
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!