TEMPLE OF HIGH JUSTICE, Imperial Forum of Alleria Prime -- After a relatively brief but tense
pre-trial hearing, Justicar Juliara, presiding magistrate, ruled that in the case of the Empire v. Alexander Nighthawk, the former regent is to stand trial for virtually all of the charges of which he has been accused. The Trial is to commence the following day.
The Rakrya - the government of mages which seized power and gained control of the Imperial Government several months ago - had launched the revolutionary trial after detaining and questioning the regent. Prominent jurist and former Justicar of Enamoria Rufus Merryst told scribes at the Herald printing press in Medonia that "the pre-trial hearing was rather standard." Noting that pre-trial hearings exist to determine whether charges brought against the accused carry a "proponderance of evidence" in order to establish credibility in truth, Former Justicar Merryst remarked, "It was not surprising, though somewhat dramatic, that [Justicar Juliara] dismissed the charge of Conspiracy to Commit Treason."
Legal scholar Professor Daffyd Beqre from the University of Alleria's College of Law said that "the charge of 'conspiracy to commit treason' is perhaps the most difficult charge to prove, because it requires physical evidence and actual witnesses to a potential revolution which has yet to take place. Though not impossible, the Rakrya would have needed ... witnesses, confessions, and documents," all of which are rarely obtained during preliminary investigations by Inquisitors, explains Professor Beqre.
Mistress Voluria, serving as Inquisitor and representing the Rakrya, tried unsuccessfully to include arcane evidence of the former regent's own memories. However, only witnesses and physical evidence could be admitted under the Articles of Imperium. Advocate Rachael Illiander, counsel for Alexander Nighthawk, rightly moved that the charge be dropped when insufficient evidence was discovered.
Even so, most experts believe that Lord Nighthawk will have a difficult time proving his innocense. "In addition to refuting charges," continued Professor Beqre, "the defense will have to show that it would be impossible for the accused to have even had the opportunity, motive, or ability to commit the crimes." Most trials are often decided at the pre-trial hearings, with the trials themselves serving as little more than venting sessions. Though it is extremely rare, some cases have been turned around after the pre-trial hearings, when defendants manage to paste together a successful refutation to prove innocense.
Former Regent Alexander Nighthawk, who lost power in a coup several months ago, is charged with one count of public disorder, one count of disruption of an official gathering of the Allerian State, three hundred and seventy-nine counts of attempted murder, one count of graft in office, and Conspiracy against the Sacred Three. The final charge, a serious assertion of betrayal only slightly less severe than Conspiracy to Commit High Treason - the charge that was dismissed by Justicar Juliara - carries the penalty of execution. The others carry penalties of imprisonment and hard labor at arbitrary durations. Lord Nighthawk has plead Not Guilty to all charges, requiring him to refute each and every one of them.
Former Regent on Trial
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