"I have here two documents requesting the presence of Lt. Cmdr. Samuel Zanders and Commodore Christina Robinson."
Rubin handed the envelopes to Judge Goethe. "The defense requests the presence of Lt. Cmdr. Zanders as he was directly involved in the communications channel that was supposedly hacked by my client, Mr. Yo-Man."
"We also request that Commodore Christina Robinson make an appearance as well," continued Rubin. "Commodore Robinson is a high ranking officer in the Liberty Navy, and is well versed in the Laws of the Liberty. The defense requests her presence as an expert witness on said laws."
The Judge took the papers out of the envelopes and looked astutely at them.
Eli Rubin returned to his seat and sat down.
Quote:[7:42:05 PM][6:51:36 PM] Igor (Smokey): btw terry
[6:51:48 PM] Terrance Cooper: Ye?
[6:52:00 PM] Igor (Smokey): nothin
[6:52:03 PM] Igor (Smokey): just sayin btw
[6:52:05 PM] Terrance Cooper: <_<
Quote:Johnny_Haas: you shot anti criuse speed rockets!!!
Johnny_Haas: but why????
Johnny_Haas: ??
Johnny_Haas: why you shoot criuse speed rockets?
Eli Rubin stood. "Your honor, at this point in time, the Defense would like to file a Motion for a Directed Verdict."
"My client and I believe firmly that the prosecution simply does not have the evidence to prove my client's guilt, otherwise, they would have displayed the evidence already. In a trial under Libertonian law, the burden of proof rests upon the shoulders of the accuser, not the defendant. And unless I am mistaken, the prosecution has made no attempts to prove the case against my client."
Rubin gestured towards the young man beside him. "This young man was put through incredible amounts of stress and pain, while the prosecution has sallied along, taking their time. In an effort to save the court's time, your time, and my client's time, I would ask that you direct the verdict in our favor, your Honor. Thank you."
Quote:[7:42:05 PM][6:51:36 PM] Igor (Smokey): btw terry
[6:51:48 PM] Terrance Cooper: Ye?
[6:52:00 PM] Igor (Smokey): nothin
[6:52:03 PM] Igor (Smokey): just sayin btw
[6:52:05 PM] Terrance Cooper: <_<
Quote:Johnny_Haas: you shot anti criuse speed rockets!!!
Johnny_Haas: but why????
Johnny_Haas: ??
Johnny_Haas: why you shoot criuse speed rockets?
Commander Jasmine Greenson abruptly stood up and ran towards the restroom. Judge Goethe shouted for order in the court as everyone began whispering about the sudden event.
A few minutes passed before a man with a black tie and a suit fit for court opened the doors to the hall and sat down on the same chair Commander Greenson had abruptly abandoned.
After the man sat down and casually opened his briefcase he reached for some papers and stood up.
"Your Honor, I'm sure an explanation is required here. Commander Greenson has reported herself unfit for this task due to recent illness. Myself, Adam Johnson will be taking over the position of the prosecutor, representing the state of Liberty on this case.
I will not waste any more of your precious time on these trivial matters and move straight onto providing evidence which proves that the defendant has committed a crime by intercepting an official Liberty Navy transmission which was in no way directed or related to him. As the evidence will show he was NOT on a single occasion approved to view the specified channel by ANY figure of the Liberty authorities.
The pilot (Zodiac) who Captain Samuel Zanders (formerly addressed as Ltn-Commander Samuel Zanders) was speaking to did indeed allow this person to view the channel. However before that is taken up as an counter-argument by the defendant we will immeadiatly refute such justification on two accords:
First of all, the civilian whom Captain Zanders was addressing neither had nor has currently no authority whatsoever to carbon-copy the transmissions designed specifically to him from the Liberty authorities.
Secondly, even if this would have been the case, it wouldn't matter because Yo-MAN hacked the frequency PRIOR to the allowance of the civilian. So on both situations he broke the law as defined.
The transmissions between Captain Zanders and Zodiac has been declassified with the approval of the Liberty Navy.
I present to you two pieces of evidence both sourcing from the same channel. The first piece of evidence (Evidence A) is a collection of all transmission gathered, and the second evidence (Evidence B) shows the transmission breach conducted by the defendant.
Quote:[color=#99FFFF]Hacking a military frequency is illegal. Punishment for this crime will be dealt with on a case by case basis.
A Ltn-Commander representing the Liberty Navy who makes a transmission to a civilian is defined as a military frequency especially when the transmission was about an impending investigation. Another civilian, whom was neither addressed by the Ltn-Commander nor had any connection to the actual topic discussed in the channel was clearly entering a transmission not designated to him. Therefore by definition hacking.
Adding these two clear definitions together in regards to this case, he was hacking a military frequency which is considered illegal.
Thank you, that is all your Honor."
[color=#99FFFF]Prosecutor Johnson sat down after handing over the evidence to the court.
The Right Honourable Ms. Goethe, 4th Circuit Judge Presiding
***
[color=#FFFFFF]
The Motion for Directed Verdict is overruled. Though I would recommend to the Liberty Government that vitamin supplements and a healthy diet can, always, help in staving off bouts of stomach flu.
Counselor for the defense, you may present your arguments.
Right Honourable Ms. Goethe, 4th circuit judge Presiding
"Your Honor," began Eli Rubin, "since my counterpart has quoted the Laws of Liberty so well, I do not feel that it is necessary for me to call upon the testimony of Commodore Christina Robinson."
"At this time, the defense would like to state what while Mr. Yo-Man did commit the act of hacking into a secure military communcations channel, several facts remain."
First, the communications channel was addressed to a friend and personal confidante of Mr. Yo-Man, Zodiac. The communique barely contained anything of note: there were no military plans, secret messages, or anything of vague importance. When my client "hacked" into the channel, he was not under the impression that he was interfering with official government business. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The discussion between Lt. Cmdr. Zanders and Zodiac was considered so trivial that the Liberty Navy itself has decided to disclose the full record of the conversation to the public, while cameras around the courtroom are broadcasting this trial to over 1000 neuralnet channels this very minute. Uncut, uncensored.
Does that sound like classified information to you? Would you feel nervous interrupting in a conversation like that? It did not occur to my client that anything was classified.
Second, my client was shown the messages by his friend, Zodiac. There is a massive inconsistency here. Nowhere in the Law of Liberty is "Forwarding of Secure Encrypted Messages" mentioned. Only direct hacking of encrypted channels is mentioned, as Counselor Johnson so eloquently put it. As a result, there is no way my client could have drawn that what he was doing was illegal. To do so requires a massive, superhuman leap of logic that my client is not capable of. To draw such a conclusion from the law would mean he would need to interpret the law for something else than what is said in the wording of the law. The Law of Liberty states clearly:
Quote:The law of Liberty is to be adhered to at all times by civilians. It is not to be interpreted in any way.
While ignorance of the law is no excuse, there is a significant difference when one cannot know about the law because it is not on the books. Surely, Mr. Yo-Man can be punished for being ignorant of the law regarding hacking into government channels. But, can Mr. Yo-Man be held liable for not knowing that it was illegal to respond to a encrypted channel someone else had shown him? There is no law against the sharing of encrypted channels. While this is intuitive to many and makes a great deal of sense, the fact remains that it is not part of the Law of Liberty. How can my client and his friend have known otherwise?
Finally, there is the matter of the fact that the fine levied by the Liberty Navy is a whopping 75 million credits. Unless I am wrong, Jasmine Greenson stated quite clearly:
Quote:"Yo-man is charged with hacking into a government communication channel, encrypted or otherwise, unaddressed to himself. One count."
According to Liberty Law:
Quote:Any fines imposed on people attempting to break or found breaking the law may range from one million credits to ten million credits. These fines can only be imposed by members of the primary fleet.
Unless my math is wrong - and it isn't, you can count on my ethnic background for that(my father was an accountant) - this would mean that Mr. Yo-Man is being charged for at least SEVEN counts of a crime. But, didn't the Navy only charge him with one?
As you can see, your Honor, this case is not as clear cut as it seems. It is inundated with inconsistencies due to poor administration and a loophole in the law that needs to be fixed.
However, my client does not need to be crucified simply because he stumbled upon this loophole.
Rubin sat down. "Your Honor, the defense rests."
Quote:[7:42:05 PM][6:51:36 PM] Igor (Smokey): btw terry
[6:51:48 PM] Terrance Cooper: Ye?
[6:52:00 PM] Igor (Smokey): nothin
[6:52:03 PM] Igor (Smokey): just sayin btw
[6:52:05 PM] Terrance Cooper: <_<
Quote:Johnny_Haas: you shot anti criuse speed rockets!!!
Johnny_Haas: but why????
Johnny_Haas: ??
Johnny_Haas: why you shoot criuse speed rockets?
Adam Johnson didn't waste no time. He realized that the defendant had gathered a momentum and he was not going to let the art of rhetoric get in between the truth.
[color=#99FF99]"Your Honor, the prosecution calls Captain Samuel Zanders to the stand.
Captain Samuel Zanders please confirm that you were part of the transmissions that took place 818 A.D. on the 10th of November between yourself and Pilot "Zodiac" concerning an impending investigation of said pilot."
[font=Palatino Linotype]Captain Samuel Zanders looked like he was suited up for war as he entered the court room. Nothing that was to be unexpected considering the latest conflicts the Liberty had gotten themselves into with Rheinland, not to mention the increasing number of criminal organizations.
With a slow pace he proceeded to take a seat on the witness stand. He was not used to have the Liberty's eyes and ears directed towards him, as a matter of fact he enjoyed taking that role himself but in the end he accepted that he had to witness in order to honour his duty as a soldier of Liberty.
[color=#FFCC66]"That is confirmed. I initiated a transmission directed towards Pilot "Zodiac" in regards to an impending investigation of his recent behaviour."