Crim197-1

King's Brief: Crim197-1p

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 Docket Number: Crim197-1 - Rex v. Vermillion
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 Brief for the King, submitted by Pazon
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The King's Brief for the prosecution of Vermillion for the crime of Attempted Murder of Alexander, Submitted by Pazon.

A new trend in assassination has overcome Sable: the poisoning of a victim's food supply. Many citizens have been murdered through this tactic, but until now, the method has been so subtle as to leave no trace of the assassin. Previous victims of assassination from food poisoning include Katidyd, Ethistanis, Kryn, and countless others. Only through Vivoria's gift is it possible that these souls are with us today.

Poisoning a victim's food supply is murder, plain and simple. The crime is particularly malignant if the food in question is food which previously possessed restorative qualities, which is the case of the famed basilisk sirloin. After the poisoning takes place, not only is the healing energy gone, but also the victim will choke and vomit from the damage done by consuming the poison. The normal use of healing foods is to take them when one is sufficiently wounded that one needs healing. If the food has been poisoned, the victim dies.

On the 27th of Solaria, 195, Alexander came to the Justicars' office with a leather food pouch containing a large stack of sirloins. This food pouch was given to him by Vermillion, and Alexander, with Etruscan as his witness, professes that the pouch he gave to the Justicar Pazon is the same pouch that Vermillion gave him. He had also neither taken nor removed any sirloins from the pouch nor had he allowed the pouch to leave his possession since receiving it, again with Etruscan as a witness with him all the way on the short trip to the Justicars' Office.

After receiving the pouch from Alexander, Pazon asked Alexander why he might suspect that the sirloins were poisoned. Earlier in the day, Vermillion had an argument with Alexander in the Green Griffon, which Pazon also witnessed. The argument ended with Vermillion grudgingly apologizing, losing a great deal of face. Later that day, Vermillion brought Alexander this "gift" of a pouch of sirloins.

When interviewed, Vermillion agreed that he did give Alexander a pouch of food. Vermillion said that he found this pouch of food in the street, and thought it would make a good gift for Alexander. Vermillion also said that he did not disturb the sirloins in the pouch he found by removing any. He then said that he added three sirloins to the pouch, to fill it up, so that Alexander would get a "gift" of a full pouch of sirloins. Vermillion didn't even bother warning Alexander that he found the sirloins in the street, and that they might be poisoned, in fact. Vermillion claims that Alexander "ran off" before he could tell him. But Vermillion had no problem discerning Alexander's location to give him the sirloins, certainly he could have spoken to someone to pass on a message of such import.

Even assuming everything that Vermillion is true, Vermillion is guilty of attempting to poison Alexander, and therefore of attempted murder.

To understand why Vermillion is guilty, one must understand the shape and function of the leather food pouch in question. The pouch is very narrow. When someone inserts a sirloin in the pouch, the sirloins begin to stack up, with the last sirloin put into the pouch being the first sirloin removed from the pouch. Just like stacking plates on top of one another, where a plate cannot be put underneath another plate without first lifting the plates above it, so functions the sirloins in the food pouch. Another analogy is paint. When applying paint to a surface, on top of other paint, the paint applied does not go underneath the paint currently there, it goes on top. Scraping paint off, one layer at a time would reveal the pigments in the reverse order in which they were painted. The pouch is sufficiently narrow so that the contents do not move or become jostled in the course of adventure, or even combat - neither of which occurred with the pouch in question.

Using standard tests, the Justicars' Office found poison in many of the sirloins in the pouch. Of the top three sirloins in the pouch, which Vermillion admits to putting in the pouch, two were poisoned. In fact, it was only the bottom three sirloins in the pouch that were untainted - all of the ones between were poisoned, for a total of six poisoned sirloins. So this gives the court reason to believe that Vermillion's entire story was a fabrication, and a botched one at that. He overlooked the minor detail that if a murderer plans to claim on putting good sirloins in the pouch and not touching all of the poisoned ones, then he should put the good sirloins in the pouch AFTER putting in the poisoned ones.

Otherwise, his scheme will be discovered, as it has been in this case.

Only the wisdom of not eating candy from strangers saved Alexander's life. If Alexander had eaten any of the six poisoned sirloins that Vermillion gave him, he might have died.

So, the Justicars' Office recommends the maximum punishment. Not only is the crime honorless and grafty, but a strong penalty will set a strong deterrent for any future murders of this sort.

The King must not lose anymore citizens to this terror.

Defense Brief: Crim197-1d

No brief on record.

Judgment: Crim197-1j

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Rex,                    )
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v.                      )       Crim197-1
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Vermillion,             )       DECIDED: Twilight 10, 197
Defendant               )
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As Vermillion has seen fit to not submit a brief in his defense (despite being granted double the normal time to submit his brief) it can only be assumed that he admits to all facts as alleged by Pazon in his brief.

Charge:

Vermillion stands accused of attempted murder of a citizen by poisoning.

Findings of Fact:

Vermillion gave Alexander a pouch of poisoned sirloins.

Vermillion did not inform Alexander that they were poisoned.

Discussion:

> [From the King's Brief, Crim197-1p]
>   Poisoning a victim's food supply is murder, plain and simple.

The mere act of poisoning something someone will eat is certainly an intentional act intended to cause harm. If it stopped here, and it were not a poison that is by itself fatal, the act would only be one of battery.

> [...]
>The normal use of healing foods is to take them when one is sufficiently
>wounded that one needs healing.  If the food has been poisoned, the victim
>dies.

It is a different issue when the poison is applied to a healing agent that is generally used in the course of battle or adventuring. When someone infests such a healing agent with a poison, the poisoner knows that the item will only be ingested when the victim is in a situation of great peril. In other words, by poisoning such a healing agent, it is known in advance that the damaging poison will only be consumed at a time when it is most likely to cause death. From these facts, it can be logically concluded that poisoning a healing agent designed for use in battle or while adventuring is most definitely an attempted murder. If the victim dies from consuming said food, or is slain soon thereafter as a direct consequence of the damage caused by the poison, the poisoner would be guilty of murder.

>   Only the wisdom of not eating candy from strangers saved Alexander's
>life.  If Alexander had eaten any of the six poisoned sirloins that
>Vermillion gave him, he might have died.

Basilisk sirloins, packed in a leather food pouch, are clearly designed for use while adventuring. This clearly defines them as healing agents intended for use in battle or when healing is needed. Thus, poisoning such items is in fact an attempt at murder. Similarly, to poison sirloins someone was carrying, especially while they are adventuring, would be equally an attempt to murder the victim.

Holding:

Vermillion is guilty of attempted murder by poisoning.

Sentence:

Vermillion is sentenced to public flogging and humiliation in the public square, and must pay a fine of 50 orb to any Justicar, half of which will be disbursed to the victim, Alexander. Failure to pay will result in DEATH without a hearing.