[Trial] McChimp vs Vedan

[McChimp]

Petition to Conduct a Criminal Review

Plaintiff: McChimp

Defendant: Vedan


Charge

The Defendant is accused of Conspiracy to Commit Misconduct, defined by Section 12 of the Criminal Code Act (September 2018):

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"Section 12. Conspiracy

(1) Any person who prepares, incites another or plans to commit an offence enumerated herein, shall be guilty of conspiracy to commit that offence."

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Evidence and Commentary

At 2:56 AM on the 25th of May, 2020 (BST) Vedan posted an announcement in the Laz Op Server (a discord server operated by the Regional Guard) explaining that he had arranged a joint operation with Mercenaries R Us and that interested members should join a joint operations server, to which he posted a link:



Though no other Lazarenes participated, the operation wasn't cancelled. The following major, Vedan and Mercenaries R Us jumped into OEU Puppet Poole from their jump point Nacb:





Section 2, subsection 3 of the Charter of the Lazarene Regional Guard (December 2018) states:

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"(3) The Regional Guard may only engage in the following types of operations:

a. Defense of Lazarus;
b. Defense of Lazarus' treaty allies, if mandated by treaty terms;
c. Invasion of regions upon which Lazarus has declared war, and defense of other regions against their military forces;
d. Defense of other Feeders and Sinkers at the request of their legitimate governments;
e. Assistance in other regions' legal Delegate transitions at the request of their legitimate governments;
f. Offensive or defensive training operations in game-created Warzone regions;
g. Invasion of fascist regions and defense of regions against fascist military forces;
h. Invasion of regions which pose a substantial threat to the out-of-character security or safety of NationStates players, and defense of regions against forces which pose such a threat."

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The operation in OEU Puppet Poole did not conform to any of the categories listed in subparagraphs A to H. By arranging for the Guard to participate in this operation, planning to participate as a member of the Guard and inciting others to participate as members of the Guard Vedan therefore prepared, planned and incited members of the Lazarene Regional Guard to violate the Charter of the Lazarene Regional Guard (December 2018) and thereby commit Misconduct, defined by Section 10 of the Criminal Code Act (September 2018):

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"Section 10. Misconduct

(1) Any person who engages in conduct which knowingly or recklessly violates the person’s citizenship oath, oath taken before the Court, or any of the laws of Lazarus, shall be guilty of misconduct."

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Furthermore, Vedan demonstrated both his understanding that such regulations exist and that he had a motive to violate them before the operation by posting a dispatch criticising them:

[Wymondham]

The court has unanimously decided to accept the request for a Criminal Review into Vedan's actions. The defendant has Seven days from now to present evidence in their defence and commentary on all evidence submitted to the Court thus far. I also ask the defendant whether they shall be represented by another individual and if so, who shall represent them?

[vedan]

Do I get a court appointed lawyer?

[Wymondham]

Do I get a court appointed lawyer?

No, you need to either find a representative or represent yourself

[Domais]

I'll be representing Vedan.

Vedan is charged with Conspiracy to Commit Misconduct. To be guilty of Conspiracy to Commit Misconduct there must be an valid argument that if the conspiracy had been or was successful, that Misconduct would have been or was committed. In this case the there is no evidence of that. All the plaintiff's screenshots prove is that Vedan wanted to do an operation with Mercenaries R Us, because Vedan failed to mention what region was to be hit, or even if, at that time Vedan and Mercenaries R Us had even settled on a region, it is hard to logically conclude that the plaintiff met the burden of proof in this case. Moreover, if Vedan is found guilty of Conspiracy to Commit Misconduct it would set a dangerous precedent that would lead to limited collaboration with other organisations for fear that if the plans fall through and the organisation conducts an operation in a region that is not permitted under Lazarene law, that they would be charged with Conspiracy to Commit Misconduct. Such a scenario goes beyond the intent of the law.

I would like to present my first piece of evidence:
(I have a moral obligation to present this)
This is a DM between myself and Crazy (The Leader of Mercenaries R U), while it shows that the defendant or at least someone contacted Mercenaries R Us on behalf of Lazarus, it fails to show that the if Lazarus had participated in the operation, the target would have been the OEU's puppets storage region. it also shows that the raid of the OEU's puppet storage was done not in Lazarus's name. Although, Crazy says "Lazarus almost came along, but didn't participate", it fails to prove that Vedan was the one who contacted Mercenaries R Us in the first instance nor does it show that the target was planned from the first instance to be the OEU's puppet storage region.

I would like to present my second piece of evidence:

Because there is no evidence to the contrary, Vedan's statement must be treated as fact, until the plaintiff presents evidence to the contrary. Therefore, this proves that the plans were not finalized at the time of Vedan's invitation to his fellow Lazarenes and therefore it cannot be reasonably argued that Vedan had the "intent" to commit misconduct.

In conclusions, the plaintiff has failed to prove that the target of the operation in the first instance was the OEU's puppet storage region and the plaintiff has failed to prove that if Lazarus was to have partaken in in the operation that the target would have been the OEU's puppet storage region. Because there is no proof that Vedan had acted in a reckless manor nor knowingly violated the Charter of the Regional Guard, it cannot be reasonably concluded that there was an underlying case of misconduct (or attempted) in the first place, therefore, Vedan is not guilty of the crime of Conspiracy to Commit Misconduct.

[Wymondham]

At 0:37AM UTC on the 6th of June the period for the defence to present further evidence and commentary on all evidence submitted to the Court thus far. The period for the prosecution to present further evidence and commentary on all evidence submitted to the Court thus far shall last for 4 days from 0:37AM UTC today

[McChimp]

In the first piece of evidence presented by the defence, Crazy attributes Lazarus' not having participated in the OEU Puppet Poole to luck; "well luckily they didn't". It's clear that Crazy was expecting Lazarus to participate in this operation and that only chance intervened.

In the second piece of evidence presented by the defence, Vedan states that he did not know what regions were going to be targeted when he called for Lazarenes to participate. This is contrary to statements he made at in the "#board-meeting-room" channel on the Lazarus discord server at 6:52 PM BST on the 28th of May, 2020:



"mru wanted that region raided, I wanted Warzone Australia for Lazarus. I was thinking of flying MRU colors on the regions they wanted and putting Lazarene colors on Warzone Australia. If anyone else would have shown up that is" demonstrates that targets were considered before it became clear that nobody else was going to show up and that Vedan knew that OEU Puppet Poole was going to be a target in advance. He also gives an entirely alternate excuse, explaining that he thought that Lazarus would not have undertaken the operation unless our flag flew over the target. This is a flimsy and innaccurate interpretation of the law. Vedan's story seems to have changed a great deal since he obtained legal counsel: I can only conclude that his latest testimony is a fabrication.

[Wymondham]

Official Update:
At 0:37 AM UTC on the 10th of June 2020, the criminal review has concluded. The Court has unanimously found Vedan GUILTY of conspiracy to commit misconduct and is still considering the matter of sentencing. We will announce the sentence as soon as it has been decided upon.
Personal Opinion:
I will personally note that the sentencing deliberations are likely to be prolonged due to a lack of sentencing limits and guidelines for any criminal offences. This is highly unusual for an NS court, especially for lower level crimes such as this one where a regional ban is quite obviously not appropriate or proportional. I would therefore suggest that the assembly implements minimum or maximum punishments each individual crime as soon as is practicable.

[Wymondham]

The court has unanimously agreed on the following sentence:
Vedan is to be banned from membership of the Regional Guard for 18 months, banned from holding public office for 8 months and shall have their voting rights suspended for 2 months. They may apply to have their Regional Guard ban commuted after 12 months and their ban from public office commuted after 6 months. 

[Domais]

Vedan wants to appeal part of whole of his sentence. Is this possible under Lazarene Law?