The courtroom is under construction.

DeVore

Hi there, as you can see I've started the construction of the courtroom for our trial. Hull and I had a chat the other day about how to proceed and I think we came up with some very good ideas.

The courtroom will consist of various private and public areas. The private areas will be for the defence and prosecution so they can do their research and communicate with each other without tipping off the others.

The public areas will be the judge/jury forum and the main courtroom itself.

Finally there is a special private forum called The Puppetmasters who are the people who are running the show and making up the details of the trial. The case needs to be quite complex in order for this to work so this is to facilitate them.

I had hoped that by putting them inside The Courtroom they wouldn't appear in a big list here but that seems to have failed as a plan

I need to set the privacy flags on them properly. Any suggestions or comments please let me know here!

DeV.

jhegarty

DeVore wrote:

jury forum

should the jury room not be private ? (at least for the for the period of the trial )... as per real life..

DeVore

Thats a good question but if we make everything private then we lose one of the main reasons behind this experiment, to expose and discover what happens in the legal system and what can and can't be considered during a case.

I am happy to change it if we feel it needs to be private. What do the rest of you think?

DeV.

Eru

DeVore wrote:

Thats a good question but if we make everything private then we lose one of the main reasons behind this experiment, to expose and discover what happens in the legal system and what can and can't be considered during a case.

I am happy to change it if we feel it needs to be private. What do the rest of you think?

DeV.

I think it needs to be private for a while at least and then public after the conclusion so people can see what went on. It should all be made public in the end

hullaballoo

It depends on how close to a real trial we want to run it. In a real courtcase, the jury's deliberations are never revealed to the public at all.

I don't mind if it's private or public (to read), once the jury are the only ones who can post their thoughts.

DeVore

Probably the best idea is to have it private and then unveil all of the forums after the fact so we can read and discuss what went on... Good idea Karlitos

DeV

hullaballoo

Lol, in a rather unusual paradox, I can't access the private sub-fora!

We'll have a look at how this runs as it is. Hopefully it will work well. What do other people reckon?

jhegarty

hullaballoo wrote:

Lol, in a rather unusual paradox, I can't access the private sub-fora!

We'll have a look at how this runs as it is. Hopefully it will work well. What do other people reckon?

looks good to me Judge hullaballoo...

I have sneaked some stale fruit into the public gallery and will begin throwing it as soon as the defendants appear....

maidhc

DeVore wrote:

Hi there, as you can see I've started the construction of the courtroom for our trial.

It better not take as long as the courthouse in Cork...

Sangre

Shouldn't the judge have studied Evidence? Jury direction/evidence admissibility is vital in a trial and if its inadequate it can lead to mistrial.

hullaballoo

We're making do with what we can. Conveniently enough, seeings as it isn't a real trial, we don't have to worry about admissibility of evidence because we're inventing all the evidence ourselves. That way, if it's dodgy, then we can get rid of it.

besty

DeVore wrote:

Probably the best idea is to have it private and then unveil all of the forums after the fact so we can read and discuss what went on

That would be the best structure IMO. Although, by making the jury forum private, there's not really much inventive for regular boardsies to return to the trial as they won't be able to access much new information until the jury deliberations are revealed after the conclusion is reached.

hullaballoo

The problem with people seeing what the deliberations are is that people (including the accused and prosecution team) could see what's going on. Jurors could be subject to PMs and (if they know users personally), other influences.

No, I'm happy the way things are. I don't think there even is a Jury forum yet.

Eru

besty wrote:

That would be the best structure IMO. Although, by making the jury forum private, there's not really much inventive for regular boardsies to return to the trial as they won't be able to access much new information until the jury deliberations are revealed after the conclusion is reached.

I presume people can see the actual trial once it begins just not the various secret stuff which is true to life. If anything I think that makes it both more realistic and interesting as you will have to draw your own conclusions about whats happening and how the teams are doing.

besty

Karlitosway1978 wrote:

I presume people can see the actual trial once it begins just not the various secret stuff which is true to life. If anything I think that makes it both more realistic and interesting as you will have to draw your own conclusions about whats happening and how the teams are doing.

Yes, but as Hullaballoo said above there will be the possibility of 3rd parties influencing things with PM's etc...

Trojan911

maidhc wrote:

It better not take as long as the courthouse in Cork...

Or cost as much

TJ911...

Victor

As fact-setter, I will need access to everywhere, except the jury room (until after deliberations).

I'm working on a scenario, with a substantial number of characters, although in reality only a small number of these will be used. The case will revolve around the events in a village called Ballymahack.

I understand Hullaballoo may have assigned generic roles to you all, which I will fill out. I will PM people in turn with their profiles, e.g. local barman, lives over pub, related to ..... If people could flesh these out it would be nice, but keep it to a few lines.


Profile of Ballymahack

Ballymahack, a traditional village 30 km outside Dublin, with colourfully painted terraced houses surrounding a small village green. 3 pubs, small supermarket, clothes shop, newsagents & off-licence, petrol station, PO, GSS, solicitor, doctor's surgery, dentist, pharmacy, vet, hairdresser, chipper, Credit Union, 2 churches, national school, GAA grounds (with Pitch & Putt) and hall, small warehouse and yard for agricultural co-op. The railway station closed 40 years ago.

Generally a little in-bred, but the blow-ins have brought new life to the village, although many do not work there and commute to Dublin.

I would like a witness to play the part of post mistress, Biddy Murphy, spinster, lives over the post office. This will be a core role.

Sangre

What about issues of the accused's or witness' credibility etc.? Are we just taking what they say as a given? What about hearsay/opinion evidence etc.?
What I'm basically asking is will the evidence's admissibilty be disputable in court? Because disputing evidence is usually a large part of a trial.

I could be the publican!I own a pub!.omly messing.will all the people be scripted or will there be ad libbing?

Victor

Deleted User wrote:

I could be the publican!I own a pub!.omly messing.will all the people be scripted or will there be ad libbing?

Then PM Hullaballoo to join the list.