CoJ Case 028

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


DB vs Braecen was the twenty-eighth case tried by the Chamber of Justice. The sitting Justicar was Kir Katarn, the Left Hand of Justice was Alexander Anderson, and the Right Hand of Justice was Chaosrain Taldrya.

Basic Case Information

Defendants Name

Charges

  • Cheating
  • Abuse of Power
  • Disreputable Behavior

Verdict

  • Guilty

Sentence

Case Summary

A complaint of potential match dodging was brought to the Justicar, who initiated an investigation. This investigation turned up logs in which the defendant found a trusted Clan member to instruct another Clan member to curtail their gaming in the Ninth Great Jedi War. On this evidence, the Chamber of Justice charged the defendant with Cheating, Abuse of Power, and Disreputable Behavior. The defendant entered pleas of not guilty on all charges, submitted a defense argument, and a Trial by Justicar was begun. During deliberations, the Chamber reviewed the evidence and the defense arguments, and determined that the defendant had unduly used his position as Consul to manipulate a member of his Clan into committing match dodging. The Chamber then decided that due to the "hodge-podge" nature of the match dodging rule, the appropriate sentence in this case would be an Official Letter of Reprimand and one year probation.

Related News Posts

Posted By DJM Kir Katarn - 5/6/2009

Chamber of Justice Communique #027a

On this day, May 6, 2009 of the Liberated Brotherhood, I the Justicar of the Brotherhood now announce the punishment that this Chamber lays upon Braecen Kaeth. Upon the conclusion of fair and just proceedings, this Chamber finds you:


On the Charge of Abuse of Power - Braecen knowingly and willingly used his position as Consul to unduly influence and manipulate Kara Rohana to commit match dodging in the Great Jedi War.


The Chamber finds you GUILTY.


On the Charge of Cheating - In manipulating Kara Rohana, thereby changing the outcome of the competition, Braecen did knowingly and willingly tamper with an official Brotherhood activity.


The Chamber finds you GUILTY.


On the Charge of Disreputable Behavior - Braecen knowingly and willingly used his influence and knowledge to exploit both the rules of the Great Jedi War, and his own members. In willingly committing such underhanded actions, Braecen's behavior has brought serious disrepute to his Clan and himself, and tampered with the Great Jedi War as a whole.


The Chamber finds you GUILTY.

Sentencing for the party is as follows:

  • Official Letter of Reprimand
  • Probation: One year

The terms of probation are thus:

  • The guilty party may not receive promotion, appointment to position, or any citation or honor of merit without the explicit permission of the Justicar

Justicar's Opinion

Posted By DJM Kir Katarn - 5/6/2009

Justicar's Opinion - 028 DB vs. Braecen

The Justicar received the initial complaint in the form of information about potential match dodging. The information concerned a situation in which the defendant, Braecen Kaeth, potentially instructed one of his Clan members to commit actions which constituted match dodging. This information had come from a third party, so the Justicar initiated an investigation to determine if first-hand evidence was available, which it was. Logs were obtained from several parties, in which Braecen directly indicated that he found the current gaming situation unacceptable, and that he wanted his member to curtail their gaming participation by making themselves unavailable for matches. The logs then show him seeking out another member of his Clan who was trusted by the gaming member to relay the message.

After reviewing the evidence, the Justicar determined that merit existed for the following charges: Cheating - for manipulating his member in such a way that tampered with an official Brotherhood activity, Abuse of Power - for using his position as Consul for the purposes of this manipulation, and Disreputable Behavior - for using his influence and knowledge to exploit both the rules of the Great Jedi War and his own members. The potential charges were presented to the Grand Master, who agreed on the merits, and the defendant was then notified of the charges.

The defendant and his counsel took the charges under consideration, then provided a plea of not guilty on all charges to the Chamber of Justice. The maximum potential sentence the Chamber would seek in this case was a one-rank elder demotion, letter of reprimand, and one year probation, which determined the trial type would be a Trial by Justicar (Section 8.03[h]). The Justicar then instructed the defense to prepare a defense brief containing their arguments, and submit it to the Chamber, which was promptly done.

The full Chamber of Justice then went into deliberation, reviewing the evidence and the defense arguments. The defense argued that the intent of Braecen's actions was not to have his member commit match dodging, and that the charges of manipulation were due to miscommunication. However, when the Chamber examined the logs, they determined that the defendant's intention clearly was to curtail his member's gaming...while avoiding the outward appearance that he was doing so - thus the use of another member, which was the manipulation. The Chamber determined that based on the evidence, it was more likely than not that Braecen had committed the crimes listed, and thus the charges met the burden of preponderance of the evidence set by the Covenant. After the conclusion of this review, it was the unanimous decision of the Chamber that the defendant was guilty on all charges.

The Chamber then moved on to the question of sentencing. The maximum sentence being considered for this particular case was a one-rank demotion, letter of reprimand, and one year probation. However, in the Chamber's discussion it was decided that the current definition of match dodging makes for a "hodge-podge" rule - and while it was clear the defendant had committed an act which violated the spirit of the rule and the competition, a one-rank elder demotion was deemed too harsh. Therefore, the sentence would consist of an Official Letter of Reprimand, and a year of probation.

Points of Interest

None of note.