Osiris Fraternal Order v Bob Moran

[r3naissanc3r]

The Pschent is now in session and hearing the case of the Osiris Fraternal Order v Bob Moran. I, r3naissanc3r, Elder, will be presiding.

Scribe of Seshat Abacathea is prosecuting this case for the state. The state has charged the defendant with one count of Unlawful Disclosure, in violation of Section 3, Clause 1, Part (a) of the Criminal Codex of the Osiris Fraternal Order Act. The indictment can be seen below.

Spoiler

Honored members of Pschent;

It is my duty to inform you I have approved charges to be brought forward as detailed below:

Defendant: Bob Moran
Charge: Violation of Section 3.1 (a) Unlawful Disclosure.
Prosecution: Abacathea
Defence: Bob may chose to represent himself or request a member be appointed to him. Arrangements will be made according to his request or upon direction from the Pschent.

Description of charges:
The accused is alleged to have re-published information from a Deshret thread which is privileged information into the public domain.

Evidence:

A direct link to the image since the above is absurdly small: http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q58 ... 459ad7.png

Original Complainant Cormac A Stark may be called.

Any other information:

Not at this time.

Yours,

Abacathea,
Scribe of Seshat.

Bob Moran, you have been informed of the cause of this charges being brought against you, as is your right. You have the right to a speedy, impartial, and public trial for the above charges. You have the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty throughout this trial. You have the right to not be tried for these charges if you have already been convicted or acquitted for them by this Pschent. You have the right to represent yourself or to be represented by counsel. As presiding Elder, I will be ensuring that these rights are observed.

I will allow you to retain and instruct effective counsel without unreasonable delay, should you wish it. If you do so wish but cannot retain effective legal counsel, I will appoint suitable legal representation. If you need time to find legal counsel, you can request an extension, and if reasonable I will grant it.

If you believe that you have already been convicted or acquitted for these chargers, you will be provided with the opportunity to argue so during pre-trial motions.

You are called upon now to plead Guilty, or Not Guilty to the charges outlined above. If you do not understand these options, they will be explained to you. You will have 72 hours to respond.

Bob Moran, how do you plead?

[r3naissanc3r]

I have notified the defendant of these proceedings through personal message on this board, and telegram to his Osiris nation as reported here. The 72-hour period to enter a plea shall commence as of this post.

[Abacathea]

To the honorable presiding member,

I have at this time sent the defendant a potential plea bargain in an attempt to reduce charges and show leniency. I ask at this time for an extension to court proceedings to see how they wish to proceed in this matter.

[Bob Moran]

I refuse the plea, and I plead non guilty.

Edit: I would also choose Cormac as my legal councel.

[Cormac]

Your Honor, I am willing to represent the defendant.

[Abacathea]

Your honor I object to the appointment Cormac A Stark as legal council for the defence considering this person lodged the initial complaint that brought us here.

[Cormac]

Your Honor, the prosecution is first of all incorrect. According to Section 5.4 of the State Code of Osiris, only the Scribe of Justice is legally empowered to bring criminal charges, and it was the Scribe's decision to pursue charges that brought us here. Any citizen can and should report activity that they believe may be criminal; it is up to the Scribe of Justice to determine whether such actions warrant charges, and it was the Scribe, not I, who decided that they did.

Moreover, regardless of who filed the complaint with the Department of Justice, Section 6.2(g) of the State Code guarantees citizens "the right to represent themselves or to be represented by counsel." Given that citizens are guaranteed the right to represent themselves, it follows that it should also be a defendant's decision who will represent them should they opt instead for counsel. It is clearly the intention behind the State Code that citizens, not the prosecution nor the Pschent, should make decisions regarding their own defense against criminal charges.

Finally, Section 6.2(j) of the State Code guarantees citizens "due process of law." It would be a gross miscarriage of due process for this Pschent to deprive any defendant of the counsel of their choice to defend them against criminal charges provided that the selection of such counsel does not represent an unreasonable impediment to the order of the Pschent.

[r3naissanc3r]

Your Honor, the prosecution is first of all incorrect. According to Section 5.4 of the State Code of Osiris, only the Scribe of Justice is legally empowered to bring criminal charges, and it was the Scribe's decision to pursue charges that brought us here. Any citizen can and should report activity that they believe may be criminal; it is up to the Scribe of Justice to determine whether such actions warrant charges, and it was the Scribe, not I, who decided that they did.

I am sure the prosecution is talking about the complaint submitted to their office, and not the indictment brought to this court.

Regardless, if the defendant is willing to have Cormac as their counsel, the court has no issue.

---

The defendant's plea of Not Guilty is accepted. The court recognizes Cormac as counsel for the defense. The defendant should notify the court if at any time they want to dismiss or replace their counsel.

I will be conducting the pre-trial and trial according to the Rules of the Pschent. I recommend that both parties familiarize themselves with the rules, if they have not already done so.

The period for discovery and exchange of evidence shall commence now, and last for 120 hours (five days) as of the time of this post. All evidence, including a list of witnesses, each party intends to present during the trial must be disclosed during this period. Evidence must be disclosed to both myself and the other party, Disclosure of evidence shall be done through personal message to myself and the other party---I will make sure that all evidence I receive is made available to both parties. Any evidence not introduced during this period will not be admissible during later stages.

For witnesses, the respective party must also explain the scope and subject of each witness’ intended testimony.

During the exchange of evidence period, either party may object to any piece of evidence disclosed by the other party. Any objection must also be accompanied with a clear explanation of why the evidence should not be admitted. I will be making determinations on any such objections after hearing from both parties.

[r3naissanc3r]

With the agreement of both the prosecution and defense, I am now ending the period for exchange of evidence, earlier than originally scheduled.

I wll be accepting pre-trial motions from the two parties for 72 hours as of this post. If either party needs more time, they can request so. Motions can be made through a post in this thread.

[Cormac]

Your Honor, I request a 24 hour extension due to computer problems I'm having. That should be an adequate extension.