The media had all sorts of names for me. The Distance Defender, The Absentee Advocate, and a few other less creative ones. It was fine by me as this was sort of my specialty at this point. I adjusted my tie and glasses and walked into the courtroom for the last phase in my latest trial.
"Your Honor, as I've shown in the last few weeks of this trial, my client Clint Jeffries couldn't have committed these crimes. I have highly regarded witness testimony from Dr. Livingston and her colleagues saying that Mr. Jeffries was in Prague for the 2 weeks before and the week after the heist. Additionally, his bank records and credit card statements make it clear that his standard of living hasn't changed. All the evidence points towards my client being innocent."
The judge had his head down reviewing documentation, trying to see if there's anything he missed from this case. He had the distinct impression I was lying, but without documented proof of that, there really wasn't much he could do.
"I find Mr. Jeffries...not guilty on all counts."
My client over Zoom barely smiled, but I was thrilled. As I walked out of the courtroom that day, a crowd of reporters gathered around me for the typical questions.
"Justice was served here today, and an innocent man won't be forced to suffer this circus of a trial anymore. No further questions, thank you for your time."
I walked back to my car, opened the door, got in, and let out a deep sigh. It doesn't really ever get easier, but my luck has lasted for another trial. I opened up my glovebox and pulled out a wallet and a box of ID cards. As I opened it up, I pulled out the ID card for Clint Jeffries and tossed it in the glovebox on its own, and pulled out a new one from the box. Joseph Montgomery. Forty-one, no priors, currently three days into a fourteen-day cruise with over a thousand witnesses. He doesn't look much like me, but if I lose the glasses and grab a wig from storage, I think I'll be passable. The bank branch the next town over is holding a lot of cash due to an issue with the armored car pickup schedule. Time to make some calls. I'll have to thank Rebecca for her testimony, a nice return of the favor I did for her a few years back.
Oh, this a very interesting take on the prompt! As I understand it, the defense lawyer identifies people who are currently far away or have easy to prove alibis, then commits crimes while looking like them, so that they get accused of the crime. Then, they defend their "victim" in court? Quite devious, if I do say so myself.
Sorry I don't have an actual story reply but my mind immediately went to the animal trials of the late Medieval and Early Modern eras. Quoting Wikipedia for one that comes to mind:
A notable French jurist, Bartholomé Chassenée (1480-1542), successfully defended the rats of Autun through various largely procedural arguments. He won an extension for the rats (who had failed to honour a summons and appear in ecclesiastical court) by arguing that they did so because they feared for their lives. He used similar arguments in defense of woodworms in Mamirolle.[4]
4 Comments
TragicNotCute@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 19d
The media had all sorts of names for me. The Distance Defender, The Absentee Advocate, and a few other less creative ones. It was fine by me as this was sort of my specialty at this point. I adjusted my tie and glasses and walked into the courtroom for the last phase in my latest trial.
"Your Honor, as I've shown in the last few weeks of this trial, my client Clint Jeffries couldn't have committed these crimes. I have highly regarded witness testimony from Dr. Livingston and her colleagues saying that Mr. Jeffries was in Prague for the 2 weeks before and the week after the heist. Additionally, his bank records and credit card statements make it clear that his standard of living hasn't changed. All the evidence points towards my client being innocent."
The judge had his head down reviewing documentation, trying to see if there's anything he missed from this case. He had the distinct impression I was lying, but without documented proof of that, there really wasn't much he could do.
"I find Mr. Jeffries...not guilty on all counts."
My client over Zoom barely smiled, but I was thrilled. As I walked out of the courtroom that day, a crowd of reporters gathered around me for the typical questions.
"Justice was served here today, and an innocent man won't be forced to suffer this circus of a trial anymore. No further questions, thank you for your time."
I walked back to my car, opened the door, got in, and let out a deep sigh. It doesn't really ever get easier, but my luck has lasted for another trial. I opened up my glovebox and pulled out a wallet and a box of ID cards. As I opened it up, I pulled out the ID card for Clint Jeffries and tossed it in the glovebox on its own, and pulled out a new one from the box. Joseph Montgomery. Forty-one, no priors, currently three days into a fourteen-day cruise with over a thousand witnesses. He doesn't look much like me, but if I lose the glasses and grab a wig from storage, I think I'll be passable. The bank branch the next town over is holding a lot of cash due to an issue with the armored car pickup schedule. Time to make some calls. I'll have to thank Rebecca for her testimony, a nice return of the favor I did for her a few years back.
ComicalMayhem@literature.cafe · 1 pts · 17d
Oh, this a very interesting take on the prompt! As I understand it, the defense lawyer identifies people who are currently far away or have easy to prove alibis, then commits crimes while looking like them, so that they get accused of the crime. Then, they defend their "victim" in court? Quite devious, if I do say so myself.
Unique_Emerald_Sol_I@literature.cafe · 2 pts · 15d
Sorry I don't have an actual story reply but my mind immediately went to the animal trials of the late Medieval and Early Modern eras. Quoting Wikipedia for one that comes to mind:
ComicalMayhem@literature.cafe · 2 pts · 15d
I had not heard of this before. That's amazing actually.