Note that at the beginning of this case, the Department of Justice was called the Department of Legal Affairs. For consistency’s sake, I will refer to it solely as the DLA.
In this case, the Prosecution claims that the Defendant – xLayzur – committed 1 count of Obstruction of Justice, 2 counts of Corruption, 2 counts of Electoral Fraud, and 1 count of Treason.
I’ll begin with the definitions of each crime:
- Obstruction of Justice: “Willfully interfering with the process of justice through influencing, threatening, harming, or impeding a witness, potential witness, police officer or by providing false information.” (
Act of Congress - Savior* Act)
- Corruption: “The act of using a government position to act to give some advantage inconsistent with official duty and the rights of others to unfairly benefit oneself, or someone else.” (
Act of Congress - Corruption and Espionage Offenses Act)
- Electoral Fraud: “Any player caught rigging/meddling with an election through, but not limited to: the use of alternate accounts, bribery, and or threats.” (
Act of Congress - Electoral Act)
- Treason: “The act of a party in federal office who is caught attempting to maliciously sabotage or undermine the stability, sovereignty, and/or national security of the government of Redmont.” (
Act of Congress - Corruption and Espionage Offenses Act)
According to the Prosecution,
1 - xLayzur refused to cooperate with the DLA in a questioning, which allegedly goes beyond the Defendant’s rights.
2 - xLayzur attempted to interfere with an election by intimidating the Secretary of State
3 - xLayzur failed to hold Speaker elections in a timely manner and ignored Representatives’ requests to hold one.
4 - xLayzur fired the Secretary of State because she refused to rig the election.
5 - xLayzur hired a new player as Secretary of State and stated this new player would be reviewing past elections.
According to the Defense,
1 - Refusing to answer questions from the DLA is not what happened, and even if it was, that’s not Obstruction of Justice.
2 - The Prosecution failed to prove the Defendant committed these acts in an attempt to maliciously undermine the stability, sovereignty, or national security of Redmont, and only proved that some actions, which may not even be criminal, occurred.
3 - In regards to Corruption and Electoral Fraud, the Prosecution has failed to prove any of the following:
a - That another candidate won the vote definitively,
b - The defendant's claims of possible electoral discrepancy were unfounded, OR the claims were made with a malicious intent & illegally to gain political advantage
c - The election therefore was overturned illegally,
d - The state secretary was fired due to such malicious reasons.
When reviewing the evidence, which is honestly quite limited, I see only:
1 - xLayzur informing Former DoS Secretary Human that “this” is unacceptable. It is clear there are some screenshots beforehand, but the context is not available.
2 - Human agreeing with xLayzur that “this” is unacceptable.
3 - xLayzur instructing Human to fix “this” and announce wetc as the winner of the election.
4 - xLayzur explaining that it is very suspicious that the amount of “purposely thrown out” votes was exactly equal to the amount of votes needed for wetc to win the race.
5 - Crobi268 appointed as Acting Secretary of State, and that Crobi would be auditing the recent elections.
6 - xLayzur approached by AlexanderLove - a DLA employee.
7 - xLayzur asking clarifying questions before being told he has 24 hours to decide whether to get a lawyer.
8 - Several pings from Representatives to xLayzur in the Congressional Discord “#speaker-elections” over the course of ~22 hours.
Before continuing, the Prosecution failed to specify which Facts are related to which charges, so I’m trying my best to put it together.
Ultimately, this case comes down to these questions:
1 - Did xLayzur refuse to cooperate with the DLA’s questions? If yes, is this Obstruction of Justice?
2 - Did xLayzur attempt to interfere with an election by intimidating the Secretary of State? If yes, is this Electoral Fraud and/or Corruption?
3 - Did xLayzur fail to hold the Speaker of the House elections in a timely manner, ignoring Representatives? If yes, is this Treason?
4 - Did xLayzur fire the Secretary of State because she didn't rig the election? If yes, is this Electoral Fraud and/or Corruption?
5 - Did xLayzur hire a new player with no experience who stated he would be reviewing past elections? If yes, is this evidence of Electoral Fraud?
In regards to xLayzur’s alleged refusal to cooperate with the DLA’s questions, there is simply no evidence suggesting he refused to cooperate. In fact, xLayzur asked clarifying questions, and the evidence provided does not go further than that. Additionally, refusing to answer questions from the DLA is not Obstruction of Justice, as the definition of that crime is narrowly focused on willful interference with the process of justice through:
- Influencing, threatening, harming, or impeding a witness, potential witness, or police officer
- Providing false information
In regards to xLayzur’s alleged intimidation of the former Secretary of State to interfere with an election, there is simply not enough evidence to convince me that he did so beyond a reasonable doubt. It’s certainly possible, but there is still reasonable doubt – xLayzur may have wholeheartedly believed wetc was the rightful winner of the election (and as pointed out by the defense, wetc was originally declared the winner). Additionally, the evidence fails to show any sort of “intimidation” or “threat” beyond the assertive language of “this better get fixed.” For the same reasons I cannot find xLayzur guilty of Electoral Fraud, I cannot find him guilty of Corruption, as there is simply insufficient evidence to say he intimidated the Secretary of State to interfere with the election. I will say, however, if it were proven beyond a reasonable doubt, this would very likely be Electoral Fraud, as the allegation of intimidating the Secretary of State to interfere with an election is almost precisely the definition of the crime. In similar fashion, if it were proven beyond a reasonable doubt, someone would benefit here, and it would be inconsistent with xLayzur’s official duty, and it would likely be Corruption.
In regards to xLayzur’s alleged failure to hold Speaker Elections in a timely manner, the evidence only shows that for at least 22 hours, the former President did not hold a Speaker Election. That is not even an entire day, and thus the evidence presented in this courtroom fails to convince me that xLayzur failed to hold them in a timely manner. Furthermore, even if it was shown that he failed to do so, the evidence presented fails to convince me he did so maliciously and thus, cannot be convicted of Treason.
In regards to xLayzur’s alleged firing of the Secretary of State because she refused to rig the election, there is no evidence submitted to the court to show that she was fired for this reason – and in fact, no evidence submitted that she was fired at all. Furthermore, even if there was, in accordance with the precedent of [2022] SCR 24 (
Lawsuit: Dismissed - The Commonwealth of Redmont v. Deadwax [2022] SCR 24) the President cannot be found guilty of a crime for firing a Secretary, as it is their expressed constitutional power.
In regards to xLayzur’s alleged hiring of a new player with no experience and reviewing past elections, yes – there is strong evidence to support this. Crobi268 was a relatively new player, and he publicly announced he would be auditing past elections. With that, the question remains: is this Electoral Fraud? Once again, I find a serious lack of evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Electoral Fraud took place. An audit does not implicitly mean overturning, changing, or meddling with an election. Whilst appointing a new player to the position of Secretary may be suspicious, it does not rise to the level of proof required to convict the Defendant of a crime.
Ultimately, the Prosecution gave a great story of how the Defendant could have committed several crimes, but failed to provide sufficient evidence for any of them. A great story does not make a good prosecution. Facts and evidence do.
With all of that said, I find the Defendant NOT GUILTY on all charges brought forth by the Prosecution.
