How to Begin

The Stormwind Courts of Law and Equity stand ready and willing to provide service to players who are seeking courtroom RP and a means to resolve outstanding cops-and-robbers plotlines without necessitating a jailbreak, dying, or retconning. While we are an organization, we offer this as a service to the Moon Guard-US server, not a membership benefit; it is open to anyone and everyone as parties, and flexible to accommodate the needs of the players and the story.

This page is to complete a simple walkthrough of our process, including intake, hearings, scheduling procedure, and the trial itself. The SCLE is a fully operational "game"; all we need is players like you, to bring your courtroom plot and let us help you make it happen!

First Contact
The SCLE's process begins with the parties agreeing to use our system! You may contact one of our barristers or magistrates directly to get your case on the books. The case will then be assigned to a magistrate, who will serve as the "case manager" and referee.

The magistrate's tasks at this point are to ensure that the following things are in place: This is most readily done by creating a "conversation" in Discord between everyone involved; but if you don't use Discord, the magistrate can find a way to keep everyone on the same page.
 * Both the defendant and the guards (or other arresting persons or group) agree to use the SCLE;
 * A set of laws and rules are agreed to, at least loosely;
 * A prosecutor is assigned;
 * The defendant has a barrister, or specifically doesn't want a barrister.

Throughout the process, the magistrate, barristers, and different parties and witnesses will continue to work together OOC to make the process go more easily and agreeably to everyone. The key things are fun and story; it's better to work out an RP-destroying issue OOC, before it becomes a problem IC.

The Criminal Complaint and the Initial Appearance
The next step is to make sure that the court knows who is being prosecuted and for what. The prosecutor and the arresting guard work together to craft a Criminal Complaint: a form that succinctly lists the defendant and the charges.

That complaint becomes part of the record, and leads to the Initial Appearance. The Initial Appearance is the formal first meeting between the defendant, barristers, and magistrate. There: Defendants can change their pleas up to three days before the trial, so no worries about it being permanent. If the defendant pleads guilty to everything, however, the trial will be set as a sentencing hearing unless the plea changes.
 * The Complaint is read into the record;
 * The defendant's pleas are announced--guilty or not guilty;
 * The defendant is informed of his or her rights;
 * Deadlines are set; and
 * Bail is set, unless it cannot apply.

The deadlines that are to be set are the pretrial "discovery" deadlines, and the trial date. The magistrate is the case manager, and is in the business of helping make the plotline move along.

Bail is also an offering. Except in extremely limited circumstances, prisoners should be released from incarceration pending their trial, on a bond established during the Initial Appearance. This is to help keep players in the RP game, while still ensuring that the process continues fairly and without being rushed. The prosecution can, during the Initial, explain why bail should be denied, but as the restrictions are very narrow, this is not generally going to be an issue.

From that point, the next step is what's known as

The Discovery Phase
This is the period during which the prosecution and defense do most of their planning work. The magistrate sets deadlines for each side to provide information to the court and to each other.

The first stage is the prosecution's case. By the date set, the prosecuting barrister and the accusing guards have to provide: The defense then follows suit, providing: If either side is going to use a pre-written witness statement in place of their first testimony at trial, then they need to provide a copy of it to the other side. It's a great way to save time at trial, but let's not spring unfair surprises on people.
 * a complete statement of the facts, establishing what circumstances and acts make up the offenses being charged;
 * any incident report that's been generated; and
 * a list of witnesses and other evidence they intend to bring.
 * a declaration of what affirmative defenses they may raise at trial; and
 * a list of witnesses and other evidence they intend to bring.

Once both sides have given out all the information they're called to do, the defendant has up until three days before the trial to change their plea, if they wish to. Because after that, it's time for

The Trial
The trial process is covered under Rule 9, which is very straightforward and, hopefully, familiar.

What happens at the beginning of the trial, however, depends on what's happened so far. If the defendant pled guilty to all charges and didn't change it, then it will be a sentencing hearing instead of a trial, with the facts entered as the prosecution described.

If the prosecution's statement of facts doesn't match up with the requirements of the laws they use to charge the defendant, the defense can bring a motion to dismiss on any of the charges. If the motion is granted, that charge won't be tried.

Witnesses and parties don't have to worry about doing the heavy lifting; that's the barristers' job! And if all goes well, the trial will be quick and fun, and help resolve the dispute to everyone's satisfaction (OOC, of course; IC, someone's going to be disappointed).

Once it's all said and done, all of the documentation--including transcripts of the trial and hearings--will be saved to a page specifically for the case, right here on the SCLE Wikia! The magistrate will make sure that the record of your case is preserved, for your later reference.

In Conclusion
We at the SCLE hope that you'll have a fun and satisfying experience with courtroom RP. If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please feel free to contact Jeremaias, the Chief Justice!

We look forward to helping you enjoy the RP experience you're seeking!