A Drop of Rain / February 2011 Public Greensheet

Investigation and

“I am the !” – Judge Dredd

The Liberec Police Force, headed by Chief of Police Dominik, is always stretched thin during the Bazaar. As such, the Chief of Police is personally responsible for the apprehension of criminals and collection of evidence with regard to alleged crimes. Under current Liberec law, the following are prosecutable offenses: - - to Murder - - - Psychic Assault - Piracy - Possession of Magical Artifacts Without Council Approval - Possession or Use of Mind-Altering Substances - Failure to Abide by the Mage Reproduction - - Each of these offenses is described in detail at the end of this sheet. To convict someone of an offense, the Chief of Police must go through several steps, the first of which is Collecting Evidence.

Collecting Evidence

There are three types of evidence that may be collected:

• Eye witness testimony of a consists of a signed statement by a character that they witnessed the crime. The witness must actually have seen the crime being committed. Circumstantial evidence is not good enough. The statement must make it clear that the witness actually saw the crime being committed. The statement must also specify in some detail exactly what happened. For example, the statement “Joe shot Bob several times” is okay even though it doesn’t pin down the exact number of shots. However, “Joe killed Bob” is not good enough because it doesn’t specify whether he shot Bob, stabbed Bob, or what. The GMs have final say as to what is enough detail.

• Psychic testimony consists of a signed statement by a character that they used Mind Magic on the accused to determine beyond doubt that the accused committed a crime. The statement should specify precisely what the Mind Mage did to the accused and how they concluded that the accused definitely committed the crime. Once again, the GMs have final say as to what is enough detail. Psychic testimony is only admissible in cases in which a psychic search warrant was issued (see below).

• Forensic evidence is generated by various mechanics in game. Pieces of forensic evidence will be clearly labeled as such. Forensic evidence will always say what crime it is for, but may not say who it is evidence against. If it does not say, it counts as evidence against anyone for the purpose of getting a warrant (see below), but only counts against guilty people for purposes of convictions.

Once the Chief of Police has collected at least three pieces of evidence and placed them in the evidence locker, he may request that an warrant be issued.

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Issuing a Warrant

If there are at least three pieces of evidence against someone in the evidence locker, the Chief of Police may go to the GMs and request an arrest warrant. The GMs will verify that there really are three pieces of evidence and that all testimony is adequately detailed, etc. The GMs will not to confirm that testimony is true, or that forensic evidence matches, etc. Assuming that everything is in order, the GMs will then issue a warrant.

Psychic Search Warrants

If there are at least two pieces of evidence against someone in the evidence locker, the Chief of Police may go to the GMs and request a psychic search warrant. The GMs will verify the two pieces of evidence as they would for an arrest warrant and issue the search warrant. The psychic search warrant authorizes the Chief of Police or anyone he designates to assist him to use force to conduct a mind probe of the subject. Actions taken under a psychic search warrant do not count as assault or psychic assault. The psychic search warrant also allows the Chief of Police to submit his findings in the form of psychic testimony.

Arresting a Suspect

Any helpless character for whom a warrant has been issued may be turned over for arrest at the Police Station (13-3101). Characters may also turn themselves in. Once this happens the arrested character is temporarily out of game and should tell a GM what happened. The GMs will now evaluate the evidence to determine the accused’s guilt or innocence. This process could take up to 24 hours depending on GM hosedness.

Determining Guilt

The GMs will determine a subject’s guilt or innocence as follows. First, they will collect up all evidence that has been submitted for the crime. Then they will go through all eye witness testimony and psychic testimony and throw out any testimony in which the witness lied. In addition they will issue warrants for perjury for anyone who lied in their testimony. Then the GMs will go through all forensic evidence. If the subject is actually guilty, the forensic evidence will confirm this and each piece will count double towards a conviction. If the subject is not guilty, the forensic evidence will be inconclusive and the GMs will discard it. Once all this has been done, the GMs will count the evidence that was not discarded, counting correct forensic evidence twice. If the total is three or more pieces of evidence, the subject will be found guilty. Otherwise, they will be found innocent. Note that their actual guilt or innocence does not matter, only how much valid evidence remains. When announcing the verdict, the GMs will only announce guilt or innocence and not how this conclusion was reached. If the subject is innocent, they’ll be released and can resume normal play. If they are guilty, they will be subject to the appropriate sentence for their crime.

Bribery

The Wiltz judicial system is notoriously corrupt, and with everyone worried about Bazaar security, it would be very easy to engage in with no risk of getting caught. If you want to submit a bribe, tell a GM which trial you want to bribe, which way you want it to go and how much you are paying. When it is time to decide the verdict, the GMs will count the bribes on each

Investigation and Crimes 2 Not Transferable A Drop of Rain / February 2011 Public Greensheet side. If one side has more bribes by more than a factor of 2, the the number of pieces of evidence needed for a conviction will either go up to 4 or down to 2. If the two sides differ by a factor of 2 or less, the bribes will cancel out and have no effect.

Guilty Pleas

If you are arrested for crime that is punished by just a fine (see below), you may plead guilty, pay the fine and be released immediately. You may theoretically plead guilty to a more severe sentence, but it is usually not in your interest to do so.

Punishments

There are four degrees of punishment.

• Fine - The guilty character will remain in prison until a set fine has been paid. The character may freely contact other characters under police surveillance to ask for assistance in paying some or all of the fine. Once paid, the money from the fines goes into the budget for The Mages’ Council.

• Fine plus imprisonment - This punishment is the same as a fine except that they character will not be released in less than 24 hours (including the time for their trial) even if they have paid the fine.

• Long term imprisonment - The guilty character will be transfered to an out-of-game long term jail where they will remain for a time significantly longer than game. The player may either become an email part with the requirement that the Chief of Police be CCed on all visits (emails) they send or receive, or the player may give up on the character and become an observer.

• Death - The character will be held in jail until they are publically executed, which will happen within 24 hours.

Crime Definitions and Sentences

All crimes and punishments are subject to revision by resolution of The Mages’ Council.

• Murder is defined as killing a person or causing a person to be wounded and having them bleed to death or otherwise die without ever regaining conciousness. Murder is always punishable by long term imprisonment and may be punished by death if, in the opinion of the court (i.e. the GMs), the murder was premeditated.

• Conspiracy to Murder is defined as being present for an act of murder and actively assisting the murderer in either committing the murder, fleeing the scene, or disposing of the body. Conspiracy to murder is punishable by long term imprisonment.

• Treason is defined as maliciously and explicitly attempting to undermine, overthrow or destabilize the legitimate govern- ment. Treason is a special crime mechanically speaking. It is not possible to collect evidence of treason per se. However, The Mages’ Council may declare any character a traitor by unanimous vote (excluding the accused if they are a member of The Mages’ Council). If this happens, a warrant will automatically be issued for that character’s arrest, and they will be automatically found guilty if arrested. The penalty for treason is death.

• Assault is defined as engaging in any sort of combat or violence, magical or physical, towards somebody without their prior consent. Consent need not be explicitly given as long as it is apparent. In particular, all Mageball games, rituals, and formal duels are considered consensual unless one party is obviously objecting (calling for help, attempting to flee etc.).

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First offense assault is punishable by a fine of 100 liberyen. Subsequent offenses are punishable by a fine of 200 liberyen and imprisonment.

• Psychic assault is defined as the use of psychic abilities to attempt to learn information from a subject in an invasive manner via mental probe. However, this is legal if done with the prior and explicit consent of the target or with a valid psychic search warrant. First offense psychic assault is punishable by a fine of 150 liberyen and imprisonment. Subsequent offenses are punishable by long term imprisonment.

• Piracy is defined as the unlawful of treasure or merchandise from other vessels on the sea. Any offense of piracy is punishable by a fine of 250 liberyen and imprisonment.

• Possession of Magical Artifacts Without Council Approval is defined as carrying any magical artifacts on your person which have not been verified to be safe for the public by The Mages’ Council and entrusted to your possession by a resolution passed by The Mages’ Council. First offense possession of magical artifacts is punishable by a fine of 50 liberyen and confiscation of the item(s). Subsequent offenses are additionally punishable by imprisonment.

• Possession or Use of Mind-Altering Substances is defined as carrying or ingesting any ingestible substance than can affect someone’s state of mind, intelligence, or magical ability. First offense possession or use of mind-altering substances is punishable by a fine of 50 liberyen and confiscation of the substances. Subsequent offenses are additionally punishable by imprisonment.

• Failure to Abide by the Mage Reproduction Laws is defined for any Mage (starting at the moment an apprenticeship contract is signed and continuing each following year at the start of the Bazaar if that Mage is in attendance at the Bazaar) as failing to be properly married in accordance with the Laws (i.e. married to a Mage, not a Fire Mage, of the other gender). Failure to abide by the Mage Reproduction Laws is punishable by a fine, 500 liberyen if married improperly or 600 liberyen if unmarried. This fine may be appealed to The Mages’ Council via Council resolution if you have good cause.

• Perjury is defined as submitting a signed statement as eye witness testimony that contains information that you know to be false. Perjury is punishable by a fine of 70 liberyen and imprisonment.

• Obstruction of justice is defined as failing to provide a signed statement as eye witness testimony when you are able to do so and have been asked explicitly by the Chief of Police. Obstruction of justice is punishable by a fine of 50 liberyen and imprisonment.

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