WEEK 5

[bathymetric]

That's three murders now - and this last trial got more than slightly out of hand. It looks like you might be in for another tough week... or at least, maybe that's just the refusal of this place to change too much. You lose Saturday again, but maybe six-day weeks are starting to feel normal by now. Who knows? The cycle of day and night continues apace, changing so little.

Speaking of change, though, there's a new area to look through, the biggest and most complex yet. And the end of one wing of the facility, from the looks of it - though you can probably guess where more areas might start to open up.

And speaking of opening up (segues!), this week if you're out particularly late, you might sometimes see Angel out and about! So hey, maybe change is on the horizon.

Just gotta hope it's a change for the better, don't you?



SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Week 5! Remember to turn in AC here, threads for regain coins here, and if you feel so inclined you can visit Angel's office hours over here! Or, if you want Angel to come to you, that's now an option! Simply put a prompt after lights-out into your toplevel and indicate you want Angel in the subject line, same as investigations! ]

Comments

[mouflon]

How bad are the crime rates where you come from?! I know some countries are strict, but three days to decide a big case is ridiculous...!

[snackooed]

It depends on where you go, honestly. In the heart of Los Angeles, though, as you can imagine, we keep busy. Personally, I'm not so sure it was the right solution myself, given the toll that it takes on the attorneys and the police...not to mention the accused.

Thankfully, though, they seem open to change. It wasn't long ago that we had our first test run of a jury system, after all.

[mouflon]

What do you mean, first test run of a jury system...?!

[ Even in the dystopian wasteland of cyberpunk 2033, America's legal system isn't this bad?! ]

Let me get this straight! You just have— No matter how high profile or complicated the crime is, you just have one guy give a verdict, after only giving a window of three days to present evidence?!

[ HELP HER??? ]

[snackooed]

See why it's such a big deal? Three days of trial, three days of testimony, all heard by one judge. Guilty until proven innocent.

[ Welcome to Japanifornia, 2028. ]

Of course, in rare circumstances, it's possible to file an appeal to try and get the verdict overturned, but those are rarely granted. And even if they are, it's even more rare to actually hear of a case where a "guilty" turns into a "not guilty".

[mouflon]

I feel like I'm going to regret asking this, but... How does the appeals process work if one is granted?

[ She's expecting an answer to be a one day hearing, for the record! ]

[snackooed]

They usually only happen if there's some kind of problem with the initial hearing. Like, if the attorney was deemed ineffective, or if there was some kind of error major enough to potentially change the verdict...they're still three days, but heard in the same court.

[mouflon]

Wow. With the standards you set me up to expect, that's actually more generous than I would have expected.

What if new evidence comes to light?

[snackooed]

Actually, there's a statute of limitations of fifteen years, in cases like that. But it's not always easy to get a judge to hear the case with the new evidence in mind. I've...

[ Hm. ]

The one time I've actually seen it happen for myself, it was substantially related to another matter that was at trial.

[mouflon]

What is that supposed to mean?

[snackooed]

To put it simply, over the course of a newer case, certain facts about an older one came to light. Getting to the truth of the new case necessitated revisiting the facts of the old one, so what essentially happened was that both cases were heard simultaneously... It's a bit of a long story, and it's not quite the norm, but it does happen.

[mouflon]

[ Rin is, but this point, actually pressing her fingers to her temples. ]

That shouldn't happen either... Doesn't that bias the results?!

[snackooed]

Well, the perpetrator was the same in both cases, so in that case, it actually worked out. Definitely not ideal to do that in three days, though...

[mouflon]

Two cases in the same three day period... Wow. I honestly don't know how you do it, Ema.

[snackooed]

I actually wasn't on the force yet, when that happened. I was only sixteen, but I was assisting with the investigation in my own way. And then, when the older case needed to be relitigated, I was there to testify.

Not a fun experience, taking the stand.

[mouflon]

I can imagine. That's something I've spent a lot of time trying not to do, you know?

[ Ha ha, because she's a fugitive! Anyway, ]

Still... I can only imagine how nuts all of that must have been, even if you weren't helping in a, um. "Official" capacity.

[ She assumes this means in some possibly illegal way, because of course she does. ]

[snackooed]

[ It was maybe a tiny bit illegal, if we're going strictly by evidence law-- ]

It was probably one of the most stressful three days I've ever had. But if nothing else, it really made me determined to go on to become a forensic investigator, after that. I was still a junior in high school, but after everything happened with that, I studied abroad in Europe under a coroner...

[mouflon]

You know, actually, I get that part. Not that I picked up what I know from a work-study program or anything, but... Sometimes you go through something, and at the end of it you know what you're meant to do with rest of your life.

[ Sometimes that just involves acts of sedition and sabotage!! ]