The Trial (IC, See OOC thread to join)

[Fatatatutti]

Samantha laughed out loud and made sure that everybody noticed. "You and I are going to get along just fine, Andrea Jennifer Duquesne."

She considered, briefly, getting another balloon from her pocket. But in the end she decided that tomorrow was another day and there were plenty more children to corrupt.

[Zimbellomons]

OOC: I'm moving to FL so I won't be on for a few weeks.

[Acacia Heights Records]

OOC: Ok, have fun, see you around. (This thread may still be going when you come back.)

"You and I are going to get along just fine, Andrea Jennifer Duquesne."

Andrea was torn between giggling with Sam and being scared of her mommy. The right choice became more and more clear as Rayleigh approached. Andrea looked up at Ray with wide eyes.

Rayleigh held her hand out. "Come."

Andrea slid off the chair and took her mommy's hand. Rayleigh turned to Sam. "I'm sorry if she's been troubling you, Ms. Smith."

[Fatatatutti]

Andrea slid off the chair and took her mommy's hand. Rayleigh turned to Sam. "I'm sorry if she's been troubling you, Ms. Smith."

"On the contrary," Samantha smiled. "She's practically the only friendly person I've met in the whole damn country." Then, in a voice loud enough for Rayleigh to hear but hopefully not loud enough for the guards to hear, she added, "Don't take her out and shoot her on my account."

[Acacia Heights Records]

Rayleigh clenched her jaw. She could feel Shawn watching and listening from across the room. Take a breath, blue. Don't stoop to her level.

She exhaled. "Ms. Smith, I believe that I have already apologized for my mistake several months ago. I understand that you are hurt, and I have tried to be patient with you, but insulting me in front of my daughter- and insinuating that I would shoot my child- is too much. I hope you have a pleasant stay in Almajoya."

With that, she turned and walked Andrea back to the rest of the family. "Mommy, why is Sam mad?" Andrea asked.

"Her name is Ms. Smith." Ray stooped down and took her daughter's hands. "Sweetie, a long time ago, I made a mistake that almost cost Ms. Smith her life. It was wrong, and I apologized, but it wasn't good enough for her.

"There are a few people in the world who thrive on being mean and hurtful. Ms. Smith is one of those people. Insulting people makes her feel better, because inside, she doesn't love herself. She's probably very sad and lonely."

"She was nice to me," Andrea protested.

"That's because you're little and cute." Rayleigh playfully pinched Andrea's cheek, making the child giggle. "Steer clear of her from now on, okay? I don't want you absorbing her negative energy."

Andrea frowned and said nothing. Rayleigh stood up, and they went over to their family.

[Tanaara]

Meru had startled a little at the balloon's popping while the Ringtail had twiched whiskers and flirted tails. Those that knew them would know that was just as big a reaction as Meru's was.

"I bet they read my mind ...I knew where the ball was the whole time!"

"Well lets try it again" Meru said and this time her hands fairly flew though the mix up, each pass faster than the last. When at last she stopped she looked up at the child and smiled "Touch which one you think it is under."

Frik and Frak watched Younger expectantly, much as Meru did. She sat with both feet flat on the floor her hands lightly resting on her knees.

[Fatatatutti]

"There are a few people in the world who thrive on being mean and hurtful. Ms. Smith is one of those people. Insulting people makes her feel better, because inside, she doesn't love herself. She's probably very sad and lonely."

Mirror mirror, Samantha said to herself.

Blame the victim. Play with people's lives, out of sheer malice or sheer stupidity, and then think that 'Sorry' will fix everything.

The only reason Samantha was there at all, risking her own life for all she knew, in a nation that had never been anything but hostile to her, was to do her best to prevent such 'mistakes' from happening again. It was almost incomprehensible that Rayleigh was still so oblivious to the consequences of her actions, but it wasn't surprising that she was so defensive. How else could she live with herself?

Poor children.

[Acacia Heights Records]

"Touch which one you think it is under."

Young immediately touched the cup to his right and Meru's left. Rayleigh and Andrea had just rejoined the group, so they did not know where the ball was, and ChaToiya had not been paying attention, but everyone else had their own opinion of where the ball was.

Shawn was quite confident that his son was right, which was evidenced by the smile in his eyes. Dakari was looking at the left cup. Maori and Staci both also thought it was the right cup. Raymond wasn't sure, but he theorized that, just like in "Rock, Paper, Scissors," it was always the one you didn't expect- the same as the last time- in this case, the center cup. And so everyone waited patiently, or impatiently, for the reveal.

[Tanaara]

Meru smiled at Youngers confidence "Are you sure?" She asked.

She tipped the center cup, to show nothing was under it. Then the one on the opposite end from the one the lad had touched. It too was proven to be empty.

"Are you still sure that it's the last one?" Meru asked asked as she leaned over to Younger and tapped him behind the ear, drawing his - and every one elses attention "Because, how can it be there?"

With the off hand she tipped the cup over, to reveal ...

nothing

while her other hand drew away from his ear to reveal'

the ball in the palm of her hand

"when it is here"

She grinned at him "Hiding behind your ear"

[Almajoya]

Almajoya v Taipara
Noon

Judge Ishikawa nodded at Sakamoto. "The prosecution may call its first witness."

Sakamoto stood up again. "The prosecution calls Sarah Mikimoto to the stand."

Mori retrieved Sarah from the witness room. She took a seat in the witness box and raised her right hand, placing her left hand on the Bible Mori presented. Mori asked in Almajoyese, "By the Spirits all around us, will you give a wholly true and reliable account of the events in question?"

"By the Spirits all around us, I swear that I will give a wholly true and reliable account of the events in question," Sarah replied in Almajoyese.

(This was the Almaiya version of the oath. Any non-Almaiya witnesses would take the standard "I swear to tell the whole truth..." oath, or any other oath they preferred.)

Mori returned to his post, and Sakamoto approached the witness. "Miss Mikimoto, will you state your name and occupation for the court?" he asked in English.

"Yes," Sarah answered. "I am Sarah Mikimoto, a maid at the palace, Sanctus Aidenn, in the service of my Empress."

"Thank you," Sakamoto said with a gentle smile. Sarah was a witness for the prosecution; there was no need to alarm her or trick her into giving answers. "Please tell us what occurred the night of April 24th of this year."

"It was just after midnight," Sarah began. "Much of the staff was upstairs- on the fourth floor, I mean, in the staff lounge. It was almost time for us to change shifts.

"But as we were gathered there, some of the staff drew guns and demanded that the rest of us get on the ground. They tied us up and locked us in the room. We didn't know what was going on."

Sarah wrung her hands. "We were there a long time, just looking at each other. Then, finally, a woman with the next shift arrived. She unlocked the door and saw all of us bound and gagged. She got scared and called the police.

"The police came and untied us. They were the ones who realized that the Empress was gone."

Having finished her story, Sarah looked at Sakamoto blankly.

"Thank you, Sarah," Sakamoto said soothingly. "Now, do you change shifts at the same time every day?"

"We did back then," Sarah answered. "There had been a very strict, very exact schedule that was the same every day, regardless of who was working."

"Hmm," Sakamoto said. "And you all gathered in the staff lounge around the same time every day?"

"Yes. We are creatures of habit, I'm afraid."

"What about the Empress? Was her schedule quite the same daily?"

"No, not at all. Sometimes she would come in time for dinner; sometimes she would stay out until the early morning."

"I see," Sakamoto said. "How many people knew her schedule each day?"

"Just about everyone, I suppose," Sarah answered. "We had to know when she would be out so we could clean her rooms. She wouldn't let us clean while she was there, she would insist on doing it herself."

Sakamoto nodded. "No further questions."

Maeda stood up and waited for Sakamoto to sit before venturing out on to the floor. "Miss Mikimoto, that must have been quite a traumatic experience for you."

The comment worked like a charm. "Yes," Sarah answered weakly, realizing that she should probably be acting more pathetic. "Very."

"The staff members who bound you," Maeda said. "Had you ever heard them complaining about the Empress?"

"Sometimes," Sarah said carefully.

"Why? Were they angry at her for the policies she enacted, or was she simply too messy for them?"

Sarah frowned. "The Empress isn't messy," she said. "Yes, there were many staff members who disliked her, but it wasn't personal. It was more about her policies."

Maeda folded her arms. "Is it possible that these staff members got together on their own and pulled off the kidnapping?"

"I guess," Sarah said, shrugging.

"Come now, Miss Mikimoto. Is it possible?"

"Objection," Sakamoto said.

Judge Ishikawa sighed. "Overruled. Yes or no, Miss Mikimoto?"

"Yes," Sarah finally admitted. "That is possible."

"No further questions, Your Honor." Satisfied, Maeda returned to her seat.

In the jury box, William Aoki was watching the witness carefully. He wasn't sure what to make of her. She seemed honest, sure. But the defense had made an excellent point.

"Thank you, Miss Mikimoto," Judge Ishikawa said. "You may step down."

[Acacia Heights Records]

(@ Tanaara and Fatatatutti)

She grinned at him "Hiding behind your ear"

Everyone gasped and laughed, applauding. Young blushed a little. "That's pretty neat," he said. "I know some card tricks, but I didn't bring a deck."

"I did," Maori said, reaching into her bag and tossing Young her deck of Ayala Neko cards.

Young shuffled the deck quite deftly for a four-year-old. Then he fanned the cards, face down. "Draw a card, look at it, and put it back," he instructed Meru.


Intent on watching Young's trick, no one in the cluster had yet noticed that Shawn the Elder had slipped away. Very casually, he sat down next to Samantha, in the same chair Andrea had just occupied. "Hello," he said. "May I have a balloon?"

[Fatatatutti]

Intent on watching Young's trick, no one in the cluster had yet noticed that Shawn the Elder had slipped away. Very casually, he sat down next to Samantha, in the same chair Andrea had just occupied. "Hello," he said. "May I have a balloon?"

Samantha looked at him sideways with her eyebrows slightly raised, a smile playing faintly around her lips and her hand already moving toward her pocket. "Are you trying to get me in trouble?" She took a balloon out of her pocket and palmed it. "You know your wife has a short fuse. Of course you know that. But we Fatatatutians are very indulgent with children. We never say no."

She had no idea what his plan was, mischief or an attempt to jack her up, but in any case, she thought he might enjoy a little conspiracy.

She casually transferred the balloon to her other hand and reached up to scratch the back of her head. "I'm going to drop it in your lap," she said softly. "Be ready."

Then in a normal voice she added, " Is it just me or is it hot in here?" She stretched as if trying to get the kinks out of her shoulders and dropped the balloon. "I wonder if there's any chance of getting out for a breath of fresh air and a stretch of the legs?"

[Ideam]

ooc: im back sorry

[Havaerre]

"Thank you, Miss Mikimoto," Judge Ishikawa said. "You may step down."

Keila had been paying close attention to the witness from the jury box; trying to absorb as much information as she possibly could. She always payed attention to details, or at least always tried to. And although Mikimoto was the only witness who had participated so far, there was quite a bit of useful facts in her testimony; such as the strict staff schedule, the distaste some of the staff had for the Empress, and the Empress' flexible schedule. Keila did her best to commit these facts to memory; they'd come in handy later.

[Acacia Heights Records]

Then in a normal voice she added, " Is it just me or is it hot in here?" She stretched as if trying to get the kinks out of her shoulders and dropped the balloon. "I wonder if there's any chance of getting out for a breath of fresh air and a stretch of the legs?"

Shawn snickered. "I doubt it." He discreetly placed the balloon in his own pocket. "I think I'll save this for later," he said with a wink.

"Yes, my wife does have a short fuse. She can be very high-strung, and she's excellent at making something out of nothing." He shrugged. "But she's also very caring, strong-willed, and comical at times. It's a shame you've only seen her bad side since you met her- I suspect that you two are more alike than you think."

[Fatatatutti]

He shrugged. "But she's also very caring, strong-willed, and comical at times. It's a shame you've only seen her bad side since you met her- I suspect that you two are more alike than you think."

"Maybe," Samantha said thoughtfully. "The difference is that my nation doesn't give me the power of life and death over people. My strong will is used to save lives, not to take them.

"Maybe this trial will be the motivation that Almajoya needs to rid itself of its obsolete style of government and replace it with something more humane."

[Acacia Heights Records]

A sly smile crept across Shawn's face. "Ah," said he. "I won't debate the merits and fallacies of the monarchy with you, because if you are anything like my wife, I will most certainly lose." He chuckled. "My motive, Miss Smith, is to try to resolve the apparent animosity between Almajoya and Fatatatutti, and maybe between you and Rayleigh. I suspect that your government has adopted your views of Rayleigh, Empress Melisma, and Almajoya as a whole. Melisma is anxious to repair this, but I doubt she'd get anywhere with them as things stand now."

He spread his hands, palms up. "Besides abolishing the monarchy, what would you have us do? I think both of our nations would benefit greatly from a more positive relationship."

[Fatatatutti]

"I suspect that your government has adopted your views of Rayleigh, Empress Melisma, and Almajoya as a whole. Melisma is anxious to repair this, but I doubt she'd get anywhere with them as things stand now."

"My government has nothing to go on but what they hear from me," Samantha said without looking at him, "And I have nothing to go on but what I've observed. You seem to be asking me to take your word against what I've seen with my own eyes - and to convince my government that your word is worth more than my own. Do you see how silly that sounds?"

He spread his hands, palms up. "Besides abolishing the monarchy, what would you have us do?"

"That's like throwing me to the sharks and asking what you can do for me besides pulling me out." She glanced casually around the room at the guards.

"At the risk of talking out of turn... this whole mess was caused by a lack of accountability. The ones who throw people to the sharks need to have that power taken away from them."

[Tanaara]

Meru was glad to sit back and just watch the trick. Hers had just about exhausted her repritor of childf engagement schemes.

Frik and Frak were thoroughly enjoying it all however.

Courtroom

Paolo had watched the start of the trial, the opening statements and now the first witness with interest. He frowned to himself though, as he felt the prosecutions handling of the witness had been unusually weak.

While he was certainly no lawyer, he'd sat through enough of this sort of trial to have some idea of what should be happening. The witness had not been asked to identify any of those who had drawn guns on them, tied them up. Why Not? Are they even being prosecuted? he wondered. 'If they are, why aren't they listed as co- consipiators? You don't just limit the charges to One Person. And charging them would have allowed for plea bargains and such to get them to talk against the other consipirators, made them witnesses for the prosecution to use to reinforce their case against the General. This feels weak already

He frowned more as he thought over the mental notes he'd made on reviwing all the infromation that had been made public so far in the wake of the attempted coup.

Goverment weapons could very well mean nothing much other than their quartermasters units have a theft problem. It doesn't necessarily mean the generals involved, though he is an idiot for shooting his mouth off during the kidnapping

And not even Rob's incredibly loyal staff agree with every thing he does. Heck he recruits them because he wants people who disagree with him. Keeps him on his toes he says. Why did neither side ask her if the same people that pulled guns and locked them up were the same people that disagreed with the policys. They are letting lot of assumptions creep in here and that may poison the jury He thought as he made more notes.

[Acacia Heights Records]

"I'm just asking you to give us a chance," Shawn said gently. "No, I don't expect you to have a change of heart overnight. But I would like you to be patient. We've been here for-" he checked his watch- "about forty minutes, and you've already insulted my wife several times."

He lowered his voice, as if he were telling Samantha a secret. "Miss Smith, Ray still hasn't forgiven herself for making the mistake that left you in the hands of criminals. She wants to rectify it, which seems to me to be impossible. Melisma feels the same way. She feels as if she owes you something. You did save her life, you know, even if you didn't realize it then."

[Fatatatutti]

"I gave you a chance the first time I was here," Samantha said. "I gave you another chance when I came back today. I don't have to be here, you know. My own government advised me not to come.

"Now, your wife continues to treat me like dirt and you have the gall to suggest that I insulted her?

"Do you even have a clue what needs to be rectified?

"Let me ask you a question. Why is it that the crimes against me aren't being investigated at all? Why hasn't anybody from Almajoya asked me even one question about what was done to me? How else could you possibly be investigating? Nobody knows but me."

[Almajoya]

(OOC: I'm going to fast-forward through some testimonies to cut down on repetition. I think Fata and AHR are the only ones who are in the middle of something; I think you can continue your conversation without much trouble.)

Edit: Tanaara, changes are in bold text.

Almajoya v Taipara
Day One,mid-afternoon

The trial became more and more tedious as the testimonies dragged on. Almost all of the former palace staff had volunteered to testify for the prosecution, and, needing all the support he could get, Sakamoto called all of them to the stand. He had a very exact schedule in mind, one that was designed to award him a landslide victory. Thus, he called all of the innocent staff, the ones who had been bound and locked up, first. They all gave stories similar to Sarah's.

Things began to get more interesting in the afternoon. Sakamoto had just finished his list of innocents, and was calling one Adelaide Remidaijou to the stand.

Between the time Mori headed for the holding cells and when he returned, a guard quietly opened one of the front doors just wide enough for a slender body to get through. This was highly irregular, and while no one else in the courtroom noticed the new arrival, Judge Ishikawa looked up to see who it was. She nodded in understanding as the guard secured the door again.

The gentleman took a seat in an unoccupied seat behind Jolene. As he placed his bookbag on the floor, he noticed the woman sitting in front of him, and a dog sleeping or lying quietly at her feet. A shameless dog lover, the man thought about petting him (or her), but decided not to disturb him. Instead, he folded his hands and watched the next testimony unfold.

The witness was now seated in the witness box. Her bright green jumpsuit provided a startling change to all of the suits and dresses that had graced the stand thus far.

In Almajoyese: "By the Spirits all around us, will you give a wholly true and reliable account of the events in question?"

"By the Spirits all around us, I swear that I will give a wholly true and reliable account of the events in question."

Mori returned to his post. Sakamoto stood up. He began exactly as he had with the others: "Miss Remidaijou, will you state your name and occupation for the court?"

"I am Adelaide Remidaijou, formerly a maid at the Empress' palace."

"Please tell us what occurred the night of April 24th of this year."

This answer was different. "Before I went to work, I took two of my husband's guns and put them in my bag. My friend Julia, who worked security at the palace back then, helped me smuggle them in. Then I hid them until my shift was nearly over.

"Around midnight, I got a call telling me to go through with the plan. Then I gathered everyone who was in on it and made sure everyone was armed. I gave my extra gun to a chef's aide who wasn't.

"We then rushed into the staff lounge and told the others we'd blow them away if they tried to fight us. No one resisted- I guess they thought we'd actually shoot them. So we tied them up and covered their mouths with rope and duct tape from the janitorial closets.

"After that, we stood outside the room and waited. Not much later, I got a text saying, 'All clear.' That was the signal for us to go home as if nothing odd had happened."

Sakamoto feigned shock and horror. "But why would you do all this?"

Adelaide shrugged. "Money. The next day, one thousand jayas were deposited into my bank account."

"Did you have any personal feelings toward the Empress?"

"I felt that she was being irresponsible," Adelaide answered. "Most of my family live in the Delta. Banning crawfish would have been the end of life as they understand it. And then there was the Duelling Act that Parliament enacted for her boyfriend. It seemed to me that she was nothing but nothing but a loose little playgirl feeling sorry for herself."

Sakamoto bristled a little at her choice of words. "Are you still of that opinion?"

"Somewhat. I've realized that the Empress is a normal person like me or you, and has her issues. As long as she doesn't base her policies on those issues, I don't really care."

The prosecutor nodded. "Now, how many other staff members were in on this?"

"I believe there were thirty-four."

"And what became of them?"

"They have all plead guilty to conspiracy kidnapping, like me."

Sakamoto smiled to himself. All 34 would testify before this trial was through. "No further questions."

Maeda took the opportunity to fill in a few gaps. "Mrs. Remidaijou, who was the person you were reporting to, who deposited this money?"

"I don't know. He never gave his name."

"Are you even sure that it was a he?"

"It sounded like a male over the phone."

"Mrs. Remidaijou, did the prosecution have you take a listening test recently, to help identify that voice over the phone?"

"Yes, madam."

"And was the voice that of my client, General Blake Taipara?"

"I wasn't sure."

Maeda pressed a little harder. "How did you get involved in this mess, Mrs. Remidaijou?"

Adelaide shrugged. "He called me one day and described the job. I told him I would do it. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Anything for a few jayas more, right, Mrs. Remidaijou?"

"Objection," Sakamoto called.

"Withdrawn," Maeda said. "No further questions, Your Honor."

[Tanaara]

OOC: Given that 1 auric =2 USD and 1 Jawa = .50 USD
___________________________________
"1,000 Jawas"

That brought Paolo's head up sharply from where he was adding a note to his last observations. She betrayed her employeer, much less her Empress, for 250 aurics!" He thought disbelieveingly - He knew all too well that the vast majority of humans could be bought and paid for - but for some one with a steady and easy job to throw it over for that little made him wonder sharply why she was lieing. There had to be more than such a pittance at play, even if she didn't like the Empress's policies.

He quickly called up the latest employeement ads for house staff as posted by an agency located in Jade and one from Montguard Tanaara and compared them. He shook his head frustrated. Given that cost of living here was much lower and he had no idea of the side benefits on either end, it still didn't look disparagingly out of line. And he was pretty sure her job had paid better than 'entry level'

There had to be some other factor. Risking long prison terms for that? Even if she plea bargainedf her way out of a substancial prison term, who would hire her afterwards? Paolo chuffed silently to himself. Hopefully the Empress now had a better class of staff.

Adelaide Remidaijou had just ruined her life in a way that any one who has never been part of such stupidity could ever understand. She might never see her husband again save through the bullet proof partition of a prison's visitor center. In Tanaara if Melisma had come to harm it would not even have been life in prison, but the death penalty.

And if this was how the General planned an abduction, he didn't have the intelligence to rise to a position of such authority as granted by his rank. Paolo made a note to check into how strong the nepotism of the Almajoyan miliatry was. Had he gotten his post purely on connections or had he shown enough intelligence to have earned it. He knew that the military was small, defensive in nature and owed the vast majority of its material to Tanaara.

[Acacia Heights Records]

"Let me ask you a question. Why is it that the crimes against me aren't being investigated at all? Why hasn't anybody from Almajoya asked me even one question about what was done to me? How else could you possibly be investigating? Nobody knows but me."

"The evidence knows," Shawn said quietly. "We have been investigating your case. No, we have not interrogated you yet. It was difficult enough to get you here just to testify in this case. Most of us were not even aware of your arrival in Almajoya until you walked through those courthouse doors." He shrugged. "I suppose Melisma knew, but didn't let us know for some reason.

"Now let me ask you a question: If you're so eager to put these men behind bars, why didn't you contact us? You could have taken the initiative to call us and stay on our backs about your case, but you didn't. In fact, Melisma had to jump through hoops just to get you here. And now, all of a sudden, you expect us to cater to your every whim? That just doesn't add up to me.

"As for my wife, I've never pretended that she wasn't rude and inconsiderate to you. Her behavior regarding you was and has been extraordinarily deficient. She and I will discuss that in private. Right now, I'm more concerned about your attitude toward her, which, given her numerous apologies to you, is uncalled for.

"I'm not asking you to apologize to her or anything of the sort. I am asking you to consider her point of view and treat her with more respect, the way that she tried to show you respect this morning."

[Fatatatutti]

"Now let me ask you a question: If you're so eager to put these men behind bars, why didn't you contact us? You could have taken the initiative to call us and stay on our backs about your case, but you didn't. In fact, Melisma had to jump through hoops just to get you here. And now, all of a sudden, you expect us to cater to your every whim? That just doesn't add up to me.

Samantha laughed out loud again. "Of all the dimwitted....

"I was being shot at the last time I was here, so pardon me for not being eager to come back. And FYI, I'm not here to put any men behind bars. I'm here to hopefully prevent the next group of tourists from being shot at the way I was.

"And I'm not asking anybody to 'cater' to me. I'm not asking for anything for me at all. I should think you'd have some slight interest in justice, but it doesn't seem so. It isn't my job to uphold justice in your country. I'm only here to help the victims"

"Right now, I'm more concerned about your attitude toward her, which, given her numerous apologies to you, is uncalled for.

"As I've already said, apologies don't compensate for attempted murder. She needs to be held to account."