The Versutian Federation v. Vahva

At this time the Court announces the recusal of Chief Justice Ghostopolis in this matter. The case will be referred to Guardian Lore per Article 7 Section 4 of the Constitution.

The Court proposes the following schedule for this trial and invites both parties to confirm or suggest changes:

July 11 - 13: Counsel Selection
July 15 - 17: Evidence Submission and Review
July 18 - 21: Arguments
July 22 - 23: Deliberation
July 24 - 25: Sentencing

The Court has appointed Rubisana to represent the Defendant, and has altered the schedule to accommodate the delay.

The Prosecution may now submit any evidence for review.

The Defendant is reminded to enter a plea of either "Guilty" or "Not Guilty" before the Argument period begins. If the Defendant fails to enter a plea in this time, a plea of "Not Guilty" will be entered on their behalf.

The Court accepts the introduction of Exhibits A - M as evidence.

As the Defendant has failed to enter a plea, the Court has entered a plea of "Not Guilty" on the Defendant's behalf.

The Argument period has now begun.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is no doubt that the defendant, Zee, broke the law clarifying that only one nation belong to one account in this region. However, I do wish to point out several misleading and irrelevant pieces of evidence that have been brought forth in this trial. Exhibits G-J show these misleading and irrelevant pieces of evidence against my client. I shall go through each exhibit and point out the many problems associated with each one.
Exhibit G
While trying to show that Vahva is a homophobe, providing this piece of evidence to the public is extremely out of line and misleading to the people of this region. While his comment may be misconstrued as homophobic, the defendant does not truly believe in such things. How many times have the various nations of this region said things that may be considered homophobic or racist or misogynist? Too many to count. People like myself, Daniel, and others have said things of this nature. How many times has Daniel said the “c-word”, which is extremely offensive to women in the United States? Or how many times have people in the discord called others “faggots”? In this day and age, we tend to focus too much on the idiotic things that people say rather than what they truly believe. Comments such as these, which are not meant to reflect the person’s actual beliefs, are used to start a so called “witch-hunt” to drive out intolerant people. If this court wishes to punish every person who makes an idiotic comment about sexual orientation, then everyone should be banned from this region.
Exhibit H
Quite frankly, bringing forth this piece of evidence is absurd. While I briefly mention that XXX (whatever the second name is), a person I have never heard of until he died, was a person of controversy. Rapping about committing crimes and being indicted of both petty felonies and abuse cases by men and women over the years are just a few of the many controversial things this man has committed. The person in question, Cosmo, is a person who too has baited multiple people in an argument by insulting celebrities that they admire. Or Daniel, for instance, who has continuously teased me about one of my favorite (and a deceased one) Walt Disney. Trying to bait me into an argument by saying he was racist, which he most certainly was not. How is this different?
Exhibit I
On the topic of Cosmo, a person who has repeatedly created a flare in this region, gets banned, then returns to TVF to start it all over again to the dismay of the region’s populace, has created much adversity in this region. The comment made by Vahva was nothing but pure frustration, an emotion felt by many people in this region. Cosmo throughout the years has exhibited troll-like behavior, broken laws, and has literally tried to flood this region with phony nations and phony votes. Discussing why it is wrong for a citizen of TVF to call this person out is ridiculous.
Exhibit J
Again, if we are going to point our fingers and start a witch hunt against every person who attacks or name-calls, then every single person in this region might as well leave TVF and abandon the discord. The comment made by my client is nothing but an idiotic attack and attempt to create frustration within Cosmo. Why this has any relevance in this case is unknown.

Now that I have cleared the irrelevancies of this case, I wish to bring up the importance of something that my client did. As explained in Exhibits C and D, Asairia explained the law to the defendant regarding how many users should own how many forum accounts, to which Vahva confesses that he did, in fact, break this law. First, I would like to appeal to the court that my client did in fact confess of his wrongdoings. He did not flee behind any loopholes, nor did he simply leave the region and thus all the charges. He stood his ground and admitted the truth. I believe the court should look favorably upon the defendant for doing this and thus rescind any notions of him being a constant defier of the law. It is clear that the defendant has a love and history for both this region and the game of NationStates, as we all do. Not only did Vahva continue to confess that he was using XaXa’s nation to avoid a potential ban (as explained by the prosecution), but voted on the Civil Trial Procedure Amendment using both nations. Many of you may see this as a person who has blantly committed voter fraud, but I see a nation who cares for his region. Clearly the defendant believes that the amendments that are currently up to vote are important and require the populace to interact with their region’s political system. I do not see any pieces of evidence that show the defendant using this second account to do harm unto others (as suggested by the prosecution in Exhibits G-J), nor use the account to further himself. Rather, he did this to further benefit the region that he resides in and has worked for as a public servant. I ask the court to look upon this case and consider what is beyond the written law. Ask yourselves this: Could he have just used the second account to troll people? Why did he take the time to have both accounts vote on the amendment? Why would he do this for a region he was supposedly trying to harm? I leave you with these questions.

The Defense appears to be admitting guilt and making a case for reduced sentencing, which normally occurs at a later stage in this trial.

We will dispense with arguments and deliberation and note the defendant has pled Guilty. The Court would like to note that pleas are entered at the start of the trial and in the event the Defendant fails to enter one, the Court enters a Not Guilty plea by default. The Defense is asked to make a Guilty plea clear in future cases to avoid the undue time spent engaging in a trial the Defendant does not wish to have.

Prosecution is now afforded an opportunity to dispute Defense’s position and propose sentencing. The Court will consider the recommendations and aim for a final sentence as soon as practicable.

The Court also wishes to remind all Parties that the Court has subject-matter jurisdiction solely on matters presently before the Court. All matters not presently before the Court, or not previously heard and settled by the Court, are impertinent to the specific matter at hand. This includes personal attacks and accusations on any person(s) not under scrutiny in this case. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence, especially anecdotal evidence which is impertinent to the specific matter at hand, have no place before the Court.