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To the Nobles and Court of the Turien Empire:
I, Miles Holdsworth, write this letter to you to express my dismay in the handling of the prisoner known as Grant Anderson. Mr. Anderson was coerced into "confessing" his association with the thieves guild, taken away from his home and to Le Havre, where he was imprisoned and beaten against his will. He was notified that he would be on trial, which is when I was hired by one of his friends. I sent a messenger to the court to notify the court that I had been hired, and despite the court receiving notification, the court proceeded in my absence. Without counsel, Mr. Anderson did his best, but the court read the charges, heard the evidence, convicted him, and cut off his hand. For a culture that declares itself to follow light, and for people who generally subscribe to the notions of goodness and upholding the law, this is an egregious and preposterous violation of goodness and the law.
I now present the facts in detail, as they have been presented to me by witnesses and friends of Mr. Anderson. A gossiper spread rumors in a tavern that a certain location is a land full of thieves and murderers. Two men, subscribing to lawful goodness in character, dispatched themselves to this land, presumably in search of the aforementioned thieves. The men knocked down a door and held an unarmed man at swordpoint until he "admitted" he was a member of the thieves guild. He was then kidnapped and taken to Le Havre. When he refused to respect the Emperor, he was beaten. He was then placed on trial, convicted, and lost a hand.
I see not why two men of lawful character would seek trouble in a land such as the one they visited. Were I, also a man of lawful goodness, to hear of a land that is full of scruffy-looking cowherders, I would avoid that land and not go looking for trouble. No doubt this land views the behavior of these men as a violation of its own jurisdiction, as well. These men sought trouble in a land that was not their own. They had no evidence that the citizen of this land was a thief, nor a member of the thieves guild and merely assumed he was based on evidence heard in a tavern that there were thieves in the land. It would be like I hearing that Le Havre is full of promiscuous women, so I break down a citizen's door, find a woman, presume she is a harlot, force her to admit to it, kidnap her, taking her back to Tambry, charging her with harlotry, convicting her, and chopping off her hand. It is preposterous.
So these men, on no evidence beside location, break down the citizen's door and force the man, at swordpoint, to admit to be a thief. In the law we call this coercion, and any evidence gathered via coercion should not be admitted as evidence at all. Nonetheless, these men then kidnapped the man and took him to Le Havre, where he was beaten. The kidnapping is a violation of the land's sovereignty, and the beatings are a violation of the man's rights.
He was then denied counsel despite the court knowing I had been hired to represent him, which is also preposterous. How can the court suggest that the trial was fair when he was denied counsel, charged with being a thief despite no hard evidence, convicted on coercive evidence, and had his hand chopped off, a permanent measure, without right to appeal the court's decision?
This behavior is easily construed as a direct attack on the sovereignty of the other land, and I would not be surprised if the situation degrades into war.
I am a peaceful man, however, and will do my best to diffuse the situation as best I can. I thus hereby urge the Turien court to reprimand and charge Murdoc and Drake Rock with two counts of criminal battery each, and kidnapping. I also hereby urge the Turien courts to overturn its conviction and compensate my client for the irreversible loss of his hand. I urge the Turien courts to uphold its lawful and good reputation and do the right thing here, which is to solve the problem internally. If the Turien courts deny these solutions, I have been authorized to file criminal charges on behalf of the land in which the kidnapping and batteries took place. It is not often that a land "full of thieves and murderers" is more cultured than the Turien Empire, but at least I was hired before a violation of Turien sovereignty. That much cannot be said for Murdoc and Drake.
If you have any questions or wish to speak to me, I will be available in my office in Tambry.
Respectfully,
Miles Holdsworth, Attorney
I, Miles Holdsworth, write this letter to you to express my dismay in the handling of the prisoner known as Grant Anderson. Mr. Anderson was coerced into "confessing" his association with the thieves guild, taken away from his home and to Le Havre, where he was imprisoned and beaten against his will. He was notified that he would be on trial, which is when I was hired by one of his friends. I sent a messenger to the court to notify the court that I had been hired, and despite the court receiving notification, the court proceeded in my absence. Without counsel, Mr. Anderson did his best, but the court read the charges, heard the evidence, convicted him, and cut off his hand. For a culture that declares itself to follow light, and for people who generally subscribe to the notions of goodness and upholding the law, this is an egregious and preposterous violation of goodness and the law.
I now present the facts in detail, as they have been presented to me by witnesses and friends of Mr. Anderson. A gossiper spread rumors in a tavern that a certain location is a land full of thieves and murderers. Two men, subscribing to lawful goodness in character, dispatched themselves to this land, presumably in search of the aforementioned thieves. The men knocked down a door and held an unarmed man at swordpoint until he "admitted" he was a member of the thieves guild. He was then kidnapped and taken to Le Havre. When he refused to respect the Emperor, he was beaten. He was then placed on trial, convicted, and lost a hand.
I see not why two men of lawful character would seek trouble in a land such as the one they visited. Were I, also a man of lawful goodness, to hear of a land that is full of scruffy-looking cowherders, I would avoid that land and not go looking for trouble. No doubt this land views the behavior of these men as a violation of its own jurisdiction, as well. These men sought trouble in a land that was not their own. They had no evidence that the citizen of this land was a thief, nor a member of the thieves guild and merely assumed he was based on evidence heard in a tavern that there were thieves in the land. It would be like I hearing that Le Havre is full of promiscuous women, so I break down a citizen's door, find a woman, presume she is a harlot, force her to admit to it, kidnap her, taking her back to Tambry, charging her with harlotry, convicting her, and chopping off her hand. It is preposterous.
So these men, on no evidence beside location, break down the citizen's door and force the man, at swordpoint, to admit to be a thief. In the law we call this coercion, and any evidence gathered via coercion should not be admitted as evidence at all. Nonetheless, these men then kidnapped the man and took him to Le Havre, where he was beaten. The kidnapping is a violation of the land's sovereignty, and the beatings are a violation of the man's rights.
He was then denied counsel despite the court knowing I had been hired to represent him, which is also preposterous. How can the court suggest that the trial was fair when he was denied counsel, charged with being a thief despite no hard evidence, convicted on coercive evidence, and had his hand chopped off, a permanent measure, without right to appeal the court's decision?
This behavior is easily construed as a direct attack on the sovereignty of the other land, and I would not be surprised if the situation degrades into war.
I am a peaceful man, however, and will do my best to diffuse the situation as best I can. I thus hereby urge the Turien court to reprimand and charge Murdoc and Drake Rock with two counts of criminal battery each, and kidnapping. I also hereby urge the Turien courts to overturn its conviction and compensate my client for the irreversible loss of his hand. I urge the Turien courts to uphold its lawful and good reputation and do the right thing here, which is to solve the problem internally. If the Turien courts deny these solutions, I have been authorized to file criminal charges on behalf of the land in which the kidnapping and batteries took place. It is not often that a land "full of thieves and murderers" is more cultured than the Turien Empire, but at least I was hired before a violation of Turien sovereignty. That much cannot be said for Murdoc and Drake.
If you have any questions or wish to speak to me, I will be available in my office in Tambry.
Respectfully,
Miles Holdsworth, Attorney
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