AcquitThese are relevant references from the Books where Acquit 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 I knew that if justice were done in Tharna I would be acquitted, yet I was uneasy for how was I to know if my case would be fairly heard and decided? That I had been in possession of Ost's sack of coins would surely seem good prima-facie evidence of guilt, and this might well sway the decision of the Tatrix. How would my word, the word of a stranger, weigh against the words of Ost, a citizen of Tharna and perhaps one of significance? "Is a simple majority required?" asked Cabot. "No," said Peisistratus, "innocence or guilt must be clear, so a clear, significant majority is required, and in a trial such as this, involving charges of high treason, guilt must be exceedingly clear, this requiring that nine out of every ten jurors draw the knife." "If more than one out of ten do not unsheathe their blades?" "Then the defendant is acquitted," said Peisistratus. "Is Pyrrhus not to be now acquitted?" asked Cabot. "Acquitted, perhaps, but not spared," said Peisistratus. "See the knives," said Cabot. Many were unsheathed, and by far the most, and each of those daggers pointed downward, threateningly, toward the pit in which Lord Pyrrhus awaited the verdict. "I do not think," said Peisistratus, scanning the tiers, "that Lord Agamemnon will have his needful numbers." |
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