| From: | ANGLISS BRIAN EDWARD <angliss@****.colorado.edu> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | the Trial, Drake's day in court |
| Date: | Tue, 5 Dec 1995 16:03:48 -0700 (MST) |
all be interested in Drake's testimony. Enjoy.
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With an instant of static, the trid kicks in and you are viewing the
courtroom through the court controlled trid cameras. This particular
cameara is focused on only one thing: The witness box, and the
individual sitting therein. With the distinctive facial features, you
know instantly who it is. Commander Drake. Today, however, Drake is
wearing not his standard Interpol uniform, nor the security armor he
wears when he is personally involved in serving an arrest warrant, but
rather a custom tailored suit and tie. Were it not for the rest of him,
you might even think he looks respectable. As it is, Drake looks
slightly absurd. He's so comfortable in his uniform that he looks very
out of his element in a suit. The heavy scales probably don't help the
matter any, either.
Audio kicks in as well.
"State your name and occupation for the Court."
Paul Xavier Drake, Commander of Special Branch, International Police.
"Raise your right hand and repeat after me: I, Paul Xavier Drake..."
I, Paul Xavier Drake.
"Do solemnly swear..."
Do solemnly swear.
"To tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God."
To tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God."
Judge: "You may be seated. Prosecution, your witness."
P: "Commander, could you please describe what your job with InterPol
entails for the court?"
Certainly. I am the current commander of InterPol's Special Branch, the
arm of Interpol that is responsible for tracking, arresting, holding, and
transporting professional criminals, terrorists, assassins, and other
unpleasant elements of society.
"And how does this differ from the operations of, say, Lone Star's
Organized Crime division?"
It differs in many important aspects. Organized crime task forces and
divisions are responsible for the arrest of local criminals such as the
local leaders of various Tongs, Triads, families, etc. Special Branch is
more responsible for the arrest of the overall leaders of these groups.
"So you target organized crime signifigantly, then?"
Yes and no. While we do target these individuals for arrest, the local
governments are generally more than adept at arresting them. In Seattle,
the FBI would be responsible for the arrest of the family leaders, not
Special Branch, although we could certainly do it. Special Branch
targets more the individuals who form the core of the underworld of
society, and as much as organized crime wishes to be this core, they are not.
"Then who does Special Branch target most specifically?"
The so-called Shadowrunners, thier "fixers", and those who deal with them.
"Please, explain for the court what a 'shadowrunner' is."
Defense: "I object, your Honor. I fail to see where this line of
questioning is going."
Prosecution: "I am attempting to ascertain what Commander Drake assumes
to be a shadowrunner, in an attempt to clarify for the jury why Mr.
O'Kennedy is charged for his interactions with them."
Judge: "Overruled."
"Commander?"
A shadowrunner is an individual who attempts to live outside the law and
prey on society, both private, national, and corporate. They are the
self-styled 'deckers' who violate property and privacy rights without a
care of whom they hurt. They are the arms dealers who supply organized
crime and individual criminals with the weapons of thier trades. They
are the muscle-for-hire street 'samurai' who sell thier enhanced killing
abilities to whoever can pay them the most. They are the riggers who
smuggle drugs, guns, people, and contraband across borders. They are the
fixers who operate as clearing-houses for the illegally acquired items
and who launder money.
"Is that all they are, Commander?"
Hardly, but I feel that's enough of a description for the time being.
"Is Mr. O'Kennedy a shadowrunner?"
No, to the best of my knowledge he does not fit within that particular
category.
"Then explain to the court why you and your orginization would be
interested in Mr. O'Kennedy."
InterPol and Special Branch are interested in Mr. O'Kennedy because he
has offered them illegal protection on his premises...
Defense: "Objection, your Honor. Commander Drake states as fact
precisely what this trial is to determine."
Judge: "Sustained. Commander, you are stating a premise and a personal
opinion rather than facts. Counsel, please restrain yourself from asking
leading questions such as that."
Prosection: "Yes, your Honor. Commander, please tell us when you first
became aware of Mr. O'Kennedy's alleged illegal activities...."
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There's hours more of this drek. I'll fast forward to the beginning of
the Defense's crossexamination.
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Defense: "Commander, why did you join InterPol?"
I originally joined to fight crime as best I was capable, and to try and
reverse the social unrest and disintegration.
"And what do you see as the cause of this disintegration?"
The rise in crime and an increasingly powerful underworld that believes
itself to be beyond the law.
"Shadowrunners, then."
Almost exclusively.
"Almost? What else, then?"
Various social factors, including poverty, lack of true families,
violence, and the denegration of human beings to mere automatons.
"Indeed. It appears that you are an idealist, then."
Prosecution: "Objection."
Judge: "Sustained."
"Commander, if all these factors contribute to what you believe to be the
unrest and disintegration of society, why then did you choose to be a
police officer rather than, say, a social worker?"
My family comes from a long line of police, counsel. And I've seen how
much effect social work has in the long run.
Prosecution: "Your Honor, I fail to see the direction of these questions."
Defense: "I ask the Court's forebearance for the time being, as my
direction will become clear shortly."
Judge: "Very well, but keep it short."
"Of course. So how do you see yourself then, Commander?"
If I understand the question, I see myself as one of the last lines of
defense against lawlessness and anarchy. A soldier, if you prefer,
fighting a war against crime.
"You earlier described the function of Special Branch as the arrest and
transportation of cross-jursidictional and very dangerous criminals,
specifically shadowrunners, is that correst?"
It is.
"If you are in a war, Commander, then there are rules of engagement, are
there not?"
There are.
"How do the Rules of Engagement for Special Branch vary from those of the
rest of InterPol, or Lone Star, or any other police orginization?"
Special Branch has more latitude to deal with criminals than most other
orginizations, and certainly more than the rest of InterPol.
"Why?"
Because the criminals we track are more dangerous and more capable of
violence than most.
"I see. So, Special Branch has more latitude when it comes to violence
than other police orginizations?"
Yes, although...
"That is enough, thank you. Commander, you have heard the Prosecution
admit that Mr. O'Kennedy is an idealist who tries to better the world
through his actions. It seems to me that you are both fighting for the
same goal, but from different angles. Would you agree with this statement?"
With certain reservations, yes.
"What reservations, Commander?"
While it is well known that Mr. O'Kennedy works diligently to improve the
lots of street children, orphans, gangers, etc, I find his...alleged
means to be contrary to the goal.
"So you feel that the ends cannot justify the means, then?"
That is correct.
"Returning to the Rules of Engagement. Have you or those agents under
your command ever violated the Rules of Engagement?"
Yes.
"Yes to which, you or your agents?"
Both.
"And what has been the result?"
I disciplined my agents, or they were arrested and tried according to the
laws they broke. In my personal case, I have always offered up myself to
be disciplined as well. I am no more above the law than anyone.
"Have you ever been personally disiplined for your actions?"
No.
"I present to the Court these documents showing Commander Drake's
disciplinary records, and the actions that brought on the hearings.
Please notice that there are several DOAs, Dead On Arrivals, mentioned.
Commander, why were you not disciplined for those DOAs?"
I do not know. I can only assume that my superiors felt that the
situations justified my actions.
"You said earlier that the ends cannot justify the means. Commander, how
do you justify your personally killing individuals whom you have sworn an
oath to bring to justice?"
I don't, Counsel. I remember every death in my dreams at night. I
relive every letter I have to write to inform a mother that her son or
daughter was killed in the line of duty, or because they chose to live a
life of crime, dying by the sword. What those documents you have there
cannot document, Counsel, is that I have tendered my resignation every
time I felt I needed to be disciplined, and every time my superiors have
refused to accept it and talked me into remaining with InterPol. I have
turned myself in to local police when I accidently killed an innocent
bystander in a shootout with criminals on the run. I have been spit upon
by fathers whose sons I've had to nearly kill because of the amount of
illegal combat drugs in thier systems made them nearly unstoppable. No
document, even those of the InterPol psychiatry doctors, can tell the
story of the soul searching and anguish I go through when I feel I have
become part of the problem rather than the solution.
"You must truly hate those individuals you hunt, Commander."
No, I don't. Hate is a waste of energy that could be more constructively
used in catching another criminal. I find thier actions morally and
ethically repugnant in addition to illegal, but I don't hate them. I
understand them, perhaps too well. In thier situations, I would likely
do exactly as they. But they have the option to leave thier professions,
to serve thier time and become valuable members of society again. They
chose thier criminal activities, and they choose to continue them. Thus
they voluntarily become part of the problem.
"Even criminals such as Alexander Jackson and his daughter, Janice?"
Even them. I respect my opponents, Counsel. Not one of them is stupid,
and I found long ago that I cannot hate someone I respect. Even when
they are responsible for putting me in a hospital for nearly 6 months.
"Commander, I must apologize to you and to the Court. I had hoped to
discredit you and assassinate your character, yet I find that I cannot.
I am sorry.
Some of your testimony, however, has glaring holes. Shall we begin?"
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The rest was unimpressive. Score: Prosecution-1, Defense-0]<<<<<
-- Trideo Pirate <16:03:32/12-05-56>
