Trial I

"May the trial commence," Brigham said, "The prosecution can start first."

"Thank you," Ana stood up from her chair and walked as she talked. "The prosecution sees no other course of action other than severe punishment for the defendant. In front of us is the killer of 21 people, 18 schoolmates from our academy, and three instructors, among which is our beloved Mok. For such a dangerous individual, who is brainwashed by their cult's extreme ideas, only one course of action would fulfill justice, death. This individual can not be allowed to live and walk free after what they've done."

Roy stood up from his chair and paced around the room, "The details of his actions we are all aware of, he confessed as much. However, the defense argues that execution would be too harsh and inappropriate. Curro is still young, all of us are still kids, we are molded by our parents and the world around us."

"Objection," Ana cut Roy off, "You will not refer to the defendant as a kid. I am aware that the constitution looks differently and more forgiving on criminal punishment for minors and children but Curro is neither. He turned 16 before this trip started, he is fully legally an adult by the law of the Dominion."

"What if his birthday was a week later?" Roy raised his eyebrow, "Hitomi's birthday will be when we come back, she will be an adult then, if she was the culprit would you factor in her age on that? Despite him being an adult legally, I don't think it makes him any more mature or different than the rest of us. We are still so young, our lives are just starting-"

"It is relevant to the case," Ana snapped, "It means he is fully responsible for his actions, that comes with your obligations as an adult."

"But-"

Brigham clapped his hands, taking their attention he said, "Whether Curro is legally an adult or a child has no bearing on this case. The prosecution and defense will drop this line of argumentation and move on."

"Okay," Roy nodded, "If I may continue? The reason I am bringing up our age and youth is that we are still largely shaped by our own parents. We haven't had time to truly become ourselves. I overheard you Ana, talking to Emidio about never standing up to your mom. You never had time to think and examine what you wanted to do."

Ana snapped in rage, "You eavesdropped on our conversation! Why I ought-"

"The prosecution is out of line, both of you are to speak professionally in this serious matter," Brigham said.

"My point being," Roy continued, "The essence of who you are as a person is still largely shaped by your aggressive mother. You had no time to bloom into your own, many of us as well. Now imagine if the people you loved the most, the ones that brought you into this world, your idols, these people are cultists and they have been brainwashing you since the start. How can a person like Curro say no to them, how can he resist their radical ideas."

Roy looked at his notes and continued to speak. "Curro committed his crimes because of his parents and because of the way they brought him up. Is it realistic to expect him to be any better than the vast majority of humanity? Everyone is shaped by their environment, and a radical, cult environment creates and molds radical and dangerous people. The defense doesn't ask him to be absolved of guilt, but merely mercy and a chance at redemption. Curro is still a young person who is subject to change, he never had a chance to be who he wanted to be, he is what his insane parents want him to be. I think the captain is in a unique position to bestow upon him a chance he never got from life."

Ana shook her head, "All of that sounds nice on paper, but the fact of the matter is he made his choice. No one was forcing him to plant the bomb, in fact, we saw his choice, instead of killing 8 people, he killed 21," Ana paused and then said, "Excuse me, 20 intentionally and I guess Mok was accidental. Why? Because of his selfish desires and feelings he harbored towards the captain. What he should have done is report it to the institutions and not plant the bomb in the first place. The defense talks about second chances and bright futures, but what about the victims. The students of Ovis and Serpens, as well as the instructors, have no future because they were killed. Why should Curro get preferential treatment? He should be punished."

Roy sat down back in his chair and said, "I don't think Curro should be able to get away without any kind of punishment. We can figure that out once we return home. The death penalty is too harsh as it doesn't allow for any kind of change or redemption."

"Punish him how," Ana leaned over her chair. "Punishing him later has no legal basis, you know that. It's either now or he is free. Unless you suggest we lock Curro in some kind of unsanctioned basement, but for how long. I think the defense would appreciate the laws on the books and that we should respect them. The captain has the power of amnesty because he can pardon crimes that were committed in extreme situations and for good reasons. This was not done for a good reason, he did it for his insane cult."

Roy crossed his legs, "Back to my earlier point, about his parents. I doubt any of us would have done differently had we grown up with parents who were part of a cult. It's not his fault he is the way he is, it isn't fair to punish him for something he had no control over. Imagine yourself Ana, or you Brigham with his parents, would you really report it to the police or would you fulfill the wishes of the people who love you the most?"

"I mean the legal system isn't here to go over scenarios of what might, could, should have happened. We look at what did happen." Ana got off the chair and continued walking around. "The fact of the matter is, none of us are the culprit, he is. Should we pardon all criminals who commit heinous crimes because they had tough childhoods? Once the deed is done, you can't turn back time. Rehabilitation sounds nice, but retribution is necessary to happen. While the law could have left us more options other than the death penalty, that's what we have in this situation. Even if this was conducted in a regular criminal court on Nova Occasio, this is mass murder, terrorism, and treason. The death penalty would surely be delivered considering we are dealing with an adult."

"Again, I don't think we should let him go completely unpunished," Roy got up from his chair. "The argument the defense is making is to consider a second chance for someone who wasn't given one. Someone like Hitomi could have turned out a mass murderer given how much rage she had. Obviously, this is just speculation but she would be someone susceptible to crime. However, she was given a second chance and she is now a different person, the defense argues for this hand to be extended to Curro, the defendant."

"Hitomi didn't kill anyone," Ana rubbed her nose, "I would also challenge you on your speculation, you don't know whether Hitomi would kill anyone even without the chance the military gave her. She could have been a problematic and violent individual, but she was never destined to be a killer. Plenty of kids have abusive parents and they don't end up as killers, there are also a ton of families that have their children grow up with the cults they are a part of and the kids still leave. Not an extreme example but, since you mentioned Emidio, he was also brainwashed into being a businessman and inheriting the Solatium corporation. He still chose of his own free will to resist that which was imposed on him, I believe it was Mok who said that we are responsible for the choices we make."

Roy raised his finger, "But are those choices truly ours? Is it really so easy to give your parents, your idols, a simple no? Especially when your morals and sense of right and wrong largely come from your parents. You, the prosecution, admitted to not having that courage to stand up to your mother, yet you expect the defendant, Curro."

"I don't want to go into circles," Ana took a deep breath, "His mind and his body, made and planted the bomb, he is responsible."

Brigham clapped his hands again and grabbed their attention, "I would like us to move on to a different line of argumentation. The court has heard all your points on this subject. Does the defense have any other arguments?"

"Of course," Roy said.