london trial ♔ i guess i'll save the best for last

[mislabeled]

WHO ||Lydia, Sark, Francesca, Cora, Will, Sam, Lila, Carol, Rose, Sydney, Dean, Audrey, Grant [Closed]
WHAT || Audrey Petersen is tried for her involvement in the schemes of Nicholas St. Andrew
WHERE || London, England
WHEN || June 2017
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

They're calling it one of the trials of the year.  Some of the more hyperbolic tabloids have referred to it as the "trial of the decade" or even "of the new century".

Audrey Petersen, wealthy socialite and wife of Professor Grant Petersen, curator of the Knights' archives has been involved in an extended proceeding ever since the day that the Knights and the London police stopped Nicholas St. Andrew, a charismatic cult leader, from completing a dark occult ritual.  St. Andrew was killed in the assault, but Audrey was taken prisoner, her role in the business less black and white. She now stands trial for the crimes she allegedly committed with her former mentor.  The authorities are still uncertain as to whether Audrey was a willing accomplice or just another of St. Andrew's brainwashed cultist lackeys.  Her lawyers and the popular press have taken to painting her as a victim, but Wynn is hardly so sure.  Dozens of people, including prominent citizens have said they are willing to appear as character witnesses for her, and some have even been obliquely criticizing the work the authorities did in arresting her.  Many of the Knights who were involved in thwarting the Children of Chaos have been asked to come to the trial to provide more insight into the situation.  

Police chief Jared O'Keefe paces nervously outside the doors as they arrive, rubbing his mouth with one hand.  

"Oh good.  You made it.  Now, we've insisted on no cameras anywhere nearby - we want to preserve the sanctity of the Knights' secrecy as much as possible.  The attorneys have a ... bit of a history.  They've sparred in the courtroom many a time.  I believe the plan is to call you up on the stand in small groups."

Comments

[impetere]

[Cora shifts back quickly at that, looking over at Grant as he speaks, before repeating, for emphasis.]

But it didn't. Everyone's okay.

[She glances around to double check that just to be on the safe side.]

Everyone okay?

[certainproclivity]

[Well now that he's satisfied that Audrey hasn't escaped, Sark is just going to flop back onto his back and sigh drearily.] As well as can be expected...

[ow his everything. he doesn't deserve this!! IF AUDREY WAS SHOT DEAD IN A WAREHOUSE NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.]

[familybusiness]

[He looks over to Audrey, less inclined to pick her up and carry her anywhere this time.]

Does someone wanna put handcuffs on her before she tries to kill us again?

[bittersweeter]

She's perfectly docile. She won't wake up until I let her.

[ but lila gonna make her stand up and stand there in a sleepwalker daze? creepy ]

[superswank]

Let's not take any chances if we can avoid it. [ she nods to jared, who is already making his way forward to cuff her ]

[familybusiness]

[He's not gonna take his eyes off her or Jared until those cuffs are on, though he does let out a breath.]

Alright, we done here? I'd say that counts as an admission of guilt.

[bittersweeter]

Technically they could declare a mistrial because this could affect the impartiality of the jury.

[familybusiness]

Don't remind me.

[He doesn't want to think about that right now.]

One potential disaster at a time.

[likedillinger]

I'm gonna say she's added some new counts to the charge. [ jared nods.

"Don't worry. She's not getting off for this. You guys have done enough. Thank you. We're glad you were here." ]

[impetere]

[Cora just nods a bit because please don't call a mistrial, she doesn't want to have to testify again.]

[likedillinger]

[ as the courtroom resembles a war zone now, the trial is unfortunately postponed - but only for a week, when it resumes in another venue. this time, carlson has no further questions or witnesses, so the two lawyers make their closing arguments basically at the top of the trial. donald mcgregory's statement is eloquent and passionate. he reiterates the points he outlined during the trial and drives home the point with a reminder of audrey's behavior during the defense's presentation.

the defense's summation is brief and uninspired. the main thrust is that audrey's actions in the courtroom are not the purview of this inquiry. the question is whether or not she committed the other crimes in question. but even mr. carlson sounds particularly unconvinced by his own words.

audrey is put away once and for all, the jury deliberating for 25 minutes before returning with the guilty verdict. the judge hands audrey a life sentence. further interviews with the woman eventually reveal that the ritual nicholas st. andrew had been enacting when he was killed was actually partially completed, and an extra-planar conduit had been partially opened, leaving room for a creature called the khor'dyl to make a connection to our world. it had remained invisible for some time, before speaking to her, promising her power if she could finish opening the conduit, that it would become loyal to her and make her the most powerful mortal on earth.

she knew it was dangerous to make deals with an otherworldly creature, and was uncertain if this was even the thing nicholas had originally intended to summon - or if it even truly had the power it promised her. but she knew that if she were to be caught summoning it, she would certainly be found guilty of being nicholas' accomplice.

so instead she waited. if she were acquitted, she would not take the creature's offer, but when it appeared that she was going to jail for life, she decided to take her chances on the thing.

unfortunately, that was also a gamble she lost.

/mission ]