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Oh, Stickee’s the one who’s “tying the judge up with a rape trial”!
Oh dang, it’s *that* trial D:
It sure took a long time to get Stickie’s case to verdict. I guess the trial really did get dragged out. But who’s the defendant? Earl, Jeff, Hubert, or Bartholomew?
Probably Bart. He had the most complicated case, and was the only one that wasn’t “decided” right away at the time. Jeff probably could have put up a defense, but I don’t know how strong it would be.
Or it could have been another attacker together. When you’re a narrative device designed so the artist doesn’t have to depict realistic women in bad situations, you tend to have a lot of bad luck.
Oh wow, of all the characters to come back from the past, I did not expect her. Poor Stickie…
I’m not surprised the DA is exasperated at the “we’re innocent” claim. She must get that a ton and it means a helluva lot of work for her and she wouldn’t even be charging the guy if she wasn’t very certain he was the dude.
Worth noting, though, that for all the DA’s certainty, this whole sequence has shown us, every step of the way, how easy it is for this sort of identification to be wrong. Sure, Rando Calrissian did it, but that doesn’t help Antonio Randeras when he gets pinched for looking like the guy.
Also, it’s worth noting how many overworked public defenders (who only get an average of about seven minutes’ prep time per case, total) advise their clients to take the plea bargain for a lesser charge, rather than take it to trial, fight and lose against a DA with considerably more resources, and see their client face a much harsher punishment–even if the client maintains their innocence all along.
Scary effective use of bathos.
Plea Bargaining – cool, looking forward to that one. :-)
My comments don’t seem to be posting in the old comic (maybe a deadline on posting?), so I’ll repost it here:
>Nathan: Thanks, I really appreciate it!
>I’m a lawyer, and we do make it ridiculously easy for people to pay us — I take checks, cash, PayPal, credit cards, cookies, first-born children, gift cards… you name it. But I’d be just as happy if you told a friend about the comic, or shared a pint or two next time I’m out your way. (And if you’re who I think you are, that might be worth the trip itself.)
Anyway, just to say I have been sharing some of your panels (especially those about mistaken witness ID and confessions) on Facebook quite a bit. And got some interesting responses from some British police officers. It seems that their interactions with suspects is not about getting confessions, but about getting information, so (they claim) they don’t have the forced confession problem over here (at least, not to the same extent).
I don’t know if I’m the me you think I am, but I try and be the best me I can be :-) I’m the Oxford Stuart Armstrong, so if you’re in Oxford, and want to meet, let me know.
There’s no deadline on posting, you’d simply wound up in the spam folder for some bizarre reason. Beats me why.
Thanks for sharing the comic! Very interesting to hear about the different approach by British officers. I’ve never visited Oxford, but if I do I’ll let you know!
“Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum”
Though the heavens may fall, let justice be done.
Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?
It’s a common Latin phrase to see in legal settings. Basically saying “let justice be done no matter the consequences”. It’s more in the sense of “we’re arresting the governor’s son here, won’t he be mad?” than “let the streets run with blood”
What exactly is “justice”, anyway? Isn’t that just Latin for “you gave us grief, so now we’re going to give you grief, and plenty of it”?
Just look at the way she swaggers. Strollin’ into the courtroom like she’s all that. Yeah. Pi in da’ house, boys.
(Or am I the only one who sees her posture in first and last panels that way?)
For some reason I interpreted her posture as painfully struggling to keep her balance while wearing high heels.