CoJ Case 060

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This article is part of the series:
Chamber of Justice
Cases


DB vs Kromtal Bloodfyre Romanae was the sixtieth case tried by the Chamber of Justice. The sitting Justicar was Dacien Victae, the Left Hand of Justice was Alaris Jinn, and the Right Hand of Justice was Arden Karn.

Basic Case Information

Defendant

Charges

  • Crude Behaviour - Plea of Guilty

Verdict

  • GUILTY as to all charges

Sentence

  • Letter of Reprimand
  • Demotion to Equite 1
  • Strict Prbation for 6 months followed by 6 months General Probation (tolled while Rogue)
  • Total Ban from Official Telegram Chats for six months

Related News Post


Members of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood,

The Chamber of Justice has convened and issued a verdict in the pending case of DB v. Kromtal Bloodfyre Romanae. Following a formal complaint and investigation, Kromtal was charged with one count of Crude Behavior. After the Left Hand of Justice informed Kromtal of his rights, Kromtal pled guilty as charged. A detailed Verdict and Justicar Opinion for the case can be found in the PDF file linked below. Please note that the written opinion is generally found on the page after announcement of the verdict.

The verdict was as follows:

Case #060 - DB v. Kromtal Bloodfyre Romanae - PDF

  • One Count of Crude Behavior
  • Verdict: GUILTY
  • Punishment: Letter of Reprimand; Demotion to Equite 1; Strict Probation for 6 months followed by 6 months General Probation (tolled while Rogue); Total Ban from Official Telegram Chats for six months.

Comments on CoJ posts are left open for positive comments and words of encouragement to a member that has just gone through this hard process. Please be kind.

Signed and sealed in Justice,

Dacien Victae
Justicar of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood

Justicar's Opinion


On December 26, 2018, after learning that the Fist had initiated a poll to gauge member interest in World of Warcraft (“WoW”) as a gaming platform for the DJB, Kromtal launched a tirade in the DB Gaming telegram channel, claiming that the Fist had previously discriminated against him by declining to even consider WoW for support as a gaming platform. Five separate messages were deleted by channel moderators for violation of channel and DJB rules against the use of crude language, including three explicitly vulgar messages.

After being muted by the Fist and warned in-chat, Kromtal immediately initiated a private message with the Praetor to the Fist. In the private chat, Kromtal directed vulgar personal attacks against both the Praetor and the Fist himself. Shortly thereafter, the Fist sent Kromtal a private message explaining the reason that he was muted in DB Gaming and detailing why WoW had not previously been considered a viable gaming option in the club. Kromtal again responded with vulgarity.

This is the second case of 2018 in which Crude Behavior has been charged by itself, following DB vs. Kadrol Hauen, 059 DB. As the Chamber explained in that case,

Crude Behavior has rarely been charged in the history of the Brotherhood. Section 2.01(d) of the Covenant grants all members the right of free speech, subject to the Covenant’s own limits on member conduct. As such, charging and convicting a member of Crude Behavior requires more than merely disagreeable or unpopular speech -- it requires excess. Excess of profanity, excess of provocation, excess of sexually explicit language.

In DB v. Kadrol Hauen, 059 DB, the Chamber relied on Kadrol’s continued crude behavior in the face of repeated warnings, holding that “[i]nherent in the concept of ‘excess’ is intent -- one cannot accidentally be ‘excessive’ in the face of clear rules and repeated warnings.” Kadrol’s crude comments were a series of discrete incidents that built up to an unacceptable level.

This is a different case. Here, there can be no doubt that Kromtal intended to be crude and intended to personally attack other members of the club. Had he stopped after being muted in DB Gaming, no charges would have been brought. Instead, he chose to escalate his misconduct by initiating a private chat with the Praetor to the Fist and using even more crude, vulgar language than he had in the public chat. Such aggressive behavior is utterly unacceptable in this club and will not be tolerated.

Sentencing

As with DB v. Kadrol Hauen, 059 DB, and DB vs. Arvalis Raith, 058 DB before it, this case has been resolved by a guilty plea. In DB vs. Arvalis Raith, the Chamber determined that Arvalis’ sincerity in confessing fault and expressing remorse merited a reduced sentence. The Chamber came to the opposite conclusion in the 059 DB, finding that the defendant’s behavior after learning of the charges against him, combined with the fact that he was already serving probation for a prior unrelated offense, should result in an increased sentence.

In this case, Kromtal’s response to the charges mirrored the behavior that led to those charges in the first instance (vulgarity omitted):

Bubba et al,

Lol, suck my []. I retired permanently over a year ago, so I don't particularly care about this. You can all go [] yourselves, or better yet, [] each other.

Consider that a guilty plea

KS

It is plain that Kromtal feels no remorse for his actions and his response evinces a clear disregard for the rules -- and the members -- of this club. As such, the Chamber will treat Kromtal’s intentional, continued engagement in the charged conduct as an aggravating factor in sentencing.

DB v. Kadrol Hauen, 059 DB, established that a Letter of Reprimand, communications ban, and general probation are a direct and tailored result of a conviction for Crude Behavior. An additional sentence may be imposed as the result of aggravating factors. In this case, the Chamber has determined that the appropriate enhanced sentence includes a one-grade Equite demotion and a corresponding period of strict probation in order to properly enforce that demotion. As always, the probationary period will be tolled while Kromtal is in the Rogues. Additionally, due to the severity of Kromtal’s behavior, the communications ban has been extended to a full six months beginning immediately.

The Chamber hopes that, should Kromtal ever choose to return to active membership, he will acknowledge his misconduct and strive to improve himself.

Verily,

/s/ Dacien Victae

Points of Interest


Kromtal had been previously tried in CoJ Case 008.