CoJ Case 006

From Wikipedia of the Dark Brotherhood, an online Star Wars Club
This article is part of the series:
Chamber of Justice
Cases


DB vs Gilkane was the sixth case tried by the Chamber of Justice. The sitting Justicar was Keirdagh Taldrya Cantor, the Left Hand of Justice was Kir Katarn, and the Right Hand of Justice was Alanna Taldrya.

Basic Case Information

Defendants Name

  • Gilkane Blackheart

Charges

  • Disreputable Behavior - Treason
  • Disreputable Behavior - Theft
  • Abuse of Power
  • Dereliction of Duty

Verdict

  • Guilty on all charges

Sentence

  • Stripped of all Medals and Awards
  • Demoted to the rank of Initiate
  • Permanently expelled

Case Summary

At the time of the case, Gilkane was the leader of the Star Wars Galaxies Player Association (DBPA), the Star Wars: Galaxies guild within the DB. Although the exact details of how the situation started are unknown, it is known that Gilkane used his status as guild leader to disband the group without permission of the Grand Master. As he disbanded the guild, he took with him all guild possessions and money, which belong to the entire group, and therefore belong to the Brotherhood. He used these to start a new guild which was not aligned with the Brotherhood, and encouraged all DBPA members to join his new group. The Lord Marshal assisted the Justicar with the investigation in this case. They determined Gilkane was to be charged with Treason and Theft for disbanding the PA without permission and taking Brotherhood possessions, Abuse of Power for using his position as guild leader to lure members away, and Dereliction of Duty for failing to deal with the PA issues in an appropriate manner as a leader.

The Justicar sent the accused the notification of charges and requested he enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. Gilkane responded to this request with a lengthy in-character tirade against the Justicar, the Chamber of Justice, and the Brotherhood itself. In it he claimed that that Chamber had no authority over him, and therefore refused to plea or cooperate in any way with the proceedings. The Justicar then proceeded to find Gilkane guilty of all charges, and permanently expel him from the Brotherhood.

Related News Posts

Posted By Keirdagh Taldrya Cantor - 12/19/2004

Greetings Dark Brethren, I have been tasked today with the duty of reporting the outcome of the trial that was held against Gilkane Blackheart, Adept of the Brotherhood.

The charges laid against Gilkane were thus:

  • Disreputable Behaviour- Treason
  • Abuse of Power
  • Dereliction of Duty
  • Disreputable Behaviour- Theft

On all of these counts, Gilkane refused to make a plea, instead choosing to believe that we had no authority over him at all. Due to this, the Chamber of Justice was forced to find him guilty of all counts.

Thus we of the Chamber of Justice do pass the following sentence upon Gilkane:

  • We hereby strip Adept Gilkane of all medals and awards.
  • We hereby demote Gilkane to the rank of Initiate.
  • We hereby remove Gilkane from the Roll of Brethren, and free ourselves from his taint.

Signed and Sealed,


Dark Jedi Master Keirdagh Taldrya Cantor

Comment on News Post Posted By Keirdagh Taldrya Cantor - 12/19/2004

I suppose I should also mention that no comments are to be made on this report. If you have questions, email them to CoJ@darkjedibrotherhood.org and we will at least berate you in private.

Justicar's Opinion

  • At this point in Chamber history, the Justicar did not issue opinions on cases.

Points of Interest

This case is the root of several interesting discussions and Chamber precedents. Most importantly, this was the first time the Chamber had to deal with a defendant who refused to acknowledge it's authority or participate in proceedings. In this case, Justicar Keirdagh Taldrya Cantor determined that refusing to participate would result in an automatic "guilty" plea Trial by Justicar - this precedent was changed slightly by Justicar Kir Katarn to an automatic "not guilty" plea and a Trial by Justicar. In addition, the Chamber had to consider if taking DBPA "property" in Star Wars: Galaxies constitutes theft from the club - and they determined it does indeed, because PA property is the property of the whole club, not any individual member. Finally, this case partially established the current policy on News Page Comments. The Justicar posted Gilkane's sentence with an added comment that any discussions of the case should be done elsewhere, not on the news page itself. This precedent is still followed, as discussions of cases are supposed to take place via email or the message boards.

An additional bit of trivia - this is the only case in which one of the presiding Hands of Justice (Kir Katarn) later went on to become the Justicar.

The Justicar Resigns

This was the final case administered by Justicar Keirdagh Taldrya Cantor (aka "Yacks"). After serving as Justicar for two years and four months, Yacks resigned on September 20, 2005. He had personally laid the foundation for the Brotherhood's justice system, and had seen it through its infancy. Below is the news post regarding his retirement:

Posted By Keirdagh Taldrya Cantor - 9/20/2005

Greetings All,

It has been a long road indeed, and as we all know, every long road must have an end. Nearing my 8th anniversary as a member in the Dark Brotherhood, this road has indeed been very long, and I regret to say, must now come to an end. (This is for all of you stupid people [i.e. Jac] I'm resigning from Justicar) I cannot begin to say how honored I've been to have served with the people of the Brotherhood, nor how proud I am to see how well that the Brotherhood is doing when finally allowed to stand on its own feet, so I won't bother trying.

Just one piece of advice to all of you out there. This club is nothing without the friendships and people that are within it, and as long as you remember that, there is nothing that you and this club cannot accomplish... even without me holding your hand ;)

Try not to abuse my replacement too much.

Keirdagh Taldrya Cantor, Signing Off.