DefendantThese are relevant references from the Books where Defendant is mentioned. I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them. Arrive at your own conclusions. I wish you well, Fogaban "One supposes it is possible," said the prosecutor, "that a terrible mistake is involved in all this, for the defendant is Kur." Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 217 "If more than one out of ten do not unsheathe their blades?" "Then the defendant is acquitted," said Peisistratus. Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 220 "The court would be displeased," he said, "for he is popular in Ar, and, given the supposition of his hostility to the defendant in this case, he is deemed an asset of great value to the prosecution." "I must have time," said Hemartius. "A thousand details must be attended to, a hundred arguments prepared and evaluated. We must consult tirelessly. The defendant must be thoroughly informed, and readied." "What seems interesting to me," said Hemartius, "in your barbarian view of law, as you explain it to me, is the presumption of innocence. What sort of legal system would accept that as a presumption? Unless we suppose that judges, attorneys, courts, and such, are incompetent, or corrupt, a defendant would not have been charged and brought to trial in the first place, not unless there was a presumption of guilt. Thus, having been brought to trial is, in itself, evidence that one is presumably guilty. Else why bother with a trial, at all?" I think we would both agree that, whether or not one is actually innocent or actually guilty, the presumption of innocence favors the defendant. Contrarywise, whether or not one is actually innocent or actually guilty, the presumption of guilt favors the prosecution. On the deep, broad stage of the theater, above and before the orchestra area housing the jury, were five things, the throne of the high judge, the table of the prosecution, the table of the defense, the dais of questioning, and the dock, a cage, in which the defendant was held. The tables of the prosecution and defense faced the throne of the high judge. The dais of questioning and the dock faced the orchestra area. It is common precedent to deny veiling to female defendants. Supposedly this is, first, to make the defendant more vulnerably recognizable, this to make escape, prisoner switches, and such less possible, and, second, to allow the judge and the jury to read what they can from the defendant's features. Is she telling the truth, is she lying, is she mocking the court, is she frightened, is she surly, and so on. "You and Talena," I said, "were colleagues in crime and treachery." "As were others," he said. "You are fortunate not to be the defendant in a similar trial," I said. "True," he said. "But the charges were dropped. I am no longer proscribed. Recall the matter of the restored Home Stone." "I also disapproved of a recent action of yours in the Stadium of Blades," I said, "when you spat on a free man, one of your four guards." |
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