WW XXVIII: The Runaway Jury

At exactly ten in the morning, Judge Harken studied the packed courtroom, and decided that everyone was in place. He pecked his gavel lightly, and the whispers ceased. Everyone was ready. He nodded at Pete, his ancient baliff in a faded brown uniform, and said simply, "Bring in the jury." All eyes watched the door beside the jury box.

The chosen twelve filed in, and went to their assigned seats, with the first juror selected sitting at the far left in rear one of the box's two rows, and juror number twelve placed in the right corner of the first row. The three alternate jurors took their seats in folding chairs placed to the side of the box. After a few moments of settling in, the jurors grew still and of course noticed that they were being gawked at.

"Good morning," His Honor said, "I trust you've found the jury room and gotten yourselves organized. Do we have a foreman?"

The twelve nodded in unison.

"It's me, Your Honor," Herman Grimes said from the first row. The lawyers and their consultants, none of whom were particularly glad to have a wild card like Herman on their jury, all suffered a collective chest pain, while making sure to maintain the image that they had the greatest love and affection for the blind foreman of the jury.

As the judge droned on about various rules for the jury's conduct, one person in the jury tuned out the judge's voice, and looked about the room while acting as if they were paying just as much attention to His Honor as the other jurors.

At the front of the courtroom, the lawyers sat packed around their tables, like vultures ready to pounce on roadkill. All were staring at the jury.

The second and third rows contained suits, the worried persons from Wall Street who had been sent to watch the trial, and to report back to their heads in the market. What they saw happen between the jury and the witnesses would decide how the price of tobacco stocks on the New York Stock Exchange would react to the trial. The person gave a mental smile, as they thought of the commotion it would cause among these persons if they suddenly jumped to their feet and shouted, "I think the plaintiff should get millions!"

In the first row, the tortured souls of the jury experts watched every movement of every jury member, taking notes, and judging what they believed the different jurors thought, and how they would vote at the end of the trial.

Other persons sat around the courtroom: bored local lawyers, the odd reporter, and various other courthouse regulars.

Judge Harkin stopped his lecture, and gestured to one of the lawyers on the plaintiff's side, Wendell Rohr, who would be the main lawyer for the plaintiff.

Flashing his false teeth, Rohr stood slowly, and strode to the lectern and gave his opening statement, in which he would outline his case to the jury.

He would prove that cigarettes cause lung cancer, and, more precisely, that Mr. Jacob Wood had developed lung cancer after smoking cigarettes for almost thirty years. He was killed by the cigarettes, Rohr solemnly announced.

Rohr would bring in proof that cigarettes cause lung cancer. Distinguished experts from across the country would testify. Former tobacco industry employees would tell of the dirty laundry that their companies hid.

In short, the plaintiff would prove cigarette smoke, because it contains natural carcinogens, and pesticides, and radioactive particles, and asbestos-like particles, causes lung cancer.

He finished with a somber appeal to justice, thanked the jurors for their attention, smiled, clicked his dentures, and sat down.

Durwood Cable was the next to the stand, and was short and to the point. He assured the jurors that the tobacco industry had experts that would explain that cigarettes do not cause lung cancer. He expected members of the jury to be skeptical of this, and asked them to be patient and open minded in listening to those who would come to testify. He spoke without notes, and his gaze passed over all the jurors. He was a man whom all wanted to believe.

After this, and some warnings about all jurors being sure to report anyone who attempted to initiate contact with them due to their being on the jury, Judge Harkin dismissed them until 9:00 AM the next day.

Taking their fifteen dollars for the day, the jury returned to their homes.

(Adapted from Runaway Jury by John Grisham)

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Day phase will begin in the jury room on the second day of the lawsuit.

The jury room is about 25 feet long by 15 feet wide (about 8 meters by 5 meters), and has a table running down the middle with chairs on each side. A chalkboard is on one wall, there are three windows on another wall which look over the courthouse lawn, there is coffee in a corner along with some doughnuts, and two restrooms for the use of the jurors, as well as a small smoking area.

Night phase will begin roughly two days from now (June 15 @ ~5:30 AM GMT) in which the first NPC will be eliminated.

srsizzy · June 13, 2006

"So can we move on with this? I have...things to do." Jimmy glanced around the table at this fellow jurrors. Most of them sit with theur hands folded in their laps. Jimmy twitched in the resounding silence, as it seemed no one would answer.

"Well then, we've been presented with a basic introduction," the jury forman, Herman, reported quickly. He quickly stood up, and grabbed a piece of chalk. "We have the plantiff, and the defendant," he said, scribling what he said down in quick notes on the green slate. "Her husband got lung cancer, was it caused by cigarettes? Just to get a feel of things, why don't we go around the room and get some opinions. Ahem, Mr. Thompsan, would you begin?"

"Well...umm," Jimmy trailed off, unsure of what to say. He twiddled his thumbs for a second, glancing around the room at all the eyes staring at him.

"Just a quick sentence or two on how you might approach the case." Herman drummed his fingers on the table.

"Well, my father smoked. He's still alive. But I'm not sure, we haven't been given all the facts on this particular case, so perhaps it's not wise to make decisions so early..." he trailed off again, looking down at the table, away from all the staring eyes.

"Hmm, perhaps you're correct. Well then, maybe if anyone has anything to say..."

Edited June 13, 2006 by srsizzy

Savage Dragon · June 13, 2006

Johnathan Deere, being the succesful business man he was, had already summed up his fellow jurors in the quick and casual manner that had helped him make his millions.

He was positive he could get 10 out of the twelve to buy a tractor if he wanted to.

but now was not a time for tractors, it was a time of decision.

"guilty" or "not guilty"? he sincerely doubted he could ever call the Tobacco Industry "innocent", but that's not the same thing as "not guilty", at least not in the eyes of a court of law.

but what about his eyes? his eyes had seen his own corporation being sued by small families purely out of greed, but he'd also seen family tragedy. if there was a guilty party, his eyes had not show them to him... yet

Mynx · June 13, 2006

Katelyn groaned inwardly and rolled her eyes as she listened first to the lawyers drone on and then members of the jury. This was such a waste of her time, why had she agreed to do it again? It definitely wasn't worth the $15 just to come in each day...

Katelyn sighed wistfully as she rememered the luxury she had been able to enjoy back in New York. She still hated her folks for what they did to her by dying. Now some of the people in court had more expensive clothes than her, she thought bitterly as she stared gloomily at the tight, black clothes she wore...

Noticing a stern glare from a jury member, Katelyn forced herself to sit up and pay attention. Sueing a tobacco company was ludicrous, she personally believed. Just because the cigarettes give you cancer doesn't make it their fault when you could just so easily stop smoking...

Mind you, if this payed off it would be a very lucrative kind of ludicrous.

Why didn't I think of this? she sighed to herself as yet another jury member decided to speak. This is going to be a long week...

NightFae · June 13, 2006

Kicking her feet off the table and sitting up fairly straight, at the angry stare of another juror, Natasha looked around. How CAN they talk about such a poitnless topic? It should be obvious to everyone who's at fault, here. The man himself...Uhh...What's his name...The guy. "What's the dead guy's name?" she found herself saying aloud. She looked about. "Oops." She slid down in her seat a bit further. She was supposed to remember that. She sighed. I really shouldn't be here. I have much better things to be doing. She sighed and said aloud, on purpose, even. "Shouldn't it be obvious, no matter what the 'facts' on this 'particular case' is? Honestly...It's not the tobacco company's fault that the man decided to pick up smoking from...Wherever he did. It's not the tobacco company's fault the guy didn't stop. It's not the tobacco company's fault the guy smoked himself to death."

Herman Grimes, the foreman, started writing how Natasha felt. "Alright...What does everyone ELSE think? Any thoughts? Any ideas?"

Natasha sat back in her seat and sighed. This week is going to suck.

GLJordan · June 14, 2006

OOC I assume this is taking place in relative current time.

having taken a sip form his Dr Pepper.

the deceased man's name, one of those facts you should consider, is Jacob Wood.

Another Fact You should consider is that the dangerous chemicals have been in cigarettes long before they told you abou them being there so people didn't know they were smoking themselves to death.

Yet another fact that should be considered is that for decades before this was revealed it was considered "proper" to smoke and "manly" among other things.

One more fact that You should consider is that many of the chemicals are addictive which makes stopping difficult.

NightFae · June 14, 2006

"Well I already knew all that. I'm not an idiot, contrary to your belief, apparantly...But how old was this guy anyway? We don't know if he was even ALIVE when it was considered 'manly' to smoke and if he was alive at that point, he could've just been a kid! And yes, they used to tel you it was HEALTHY to smoke, too. But...Grrr." It really didn't matter how much she argued...And she knew it. But she DID have some fairly decent points to make. "And to the last point...Isn't that what those patches are for?" She sighed and kicked her feet up on the table once more, ignoring glares from the other jurors.

Ooooooooof course. I haven't even been here all that long and I've already gotten myself into an arguement...What's next? She asked herself, staying out of pretty much any conversation, convinced that if she tried to participate, it would just get her into another arguement.

srsizzy · June 14, 2006

"Hey, I'd suggest listening to the trial. The man was married, so I don't think he was a kid. I agree, he could have quit smoking, but at the same time: why do they even sell this product?" Jimmy glared at Natasha. "I mean, what's the point in selling death to the world, I think there should be more important things than money...you know, like life and all."

Jimmy looked up in time to see Herman scribbling both points on the board. "Well, yes, I see Mr. Thompson, Mr. Peterson and Ms. Allan. Thank you for your points. Maybe if--"

"Wait, wait, I'm not done," Jimmy cut the man off. "We're all in enough bad shape as it is, the government is constantly finding new ways to suck the money that they print out of us, all in ways that are detrimental to human lives. This trial could be the first step in changing that. Don't any of you see that?" Jimmy was surprised to see himself so caught up in the trial now. He was mostly uninterested before, but his paranoid thinking was catching up with him. "Todd once told me--"

"Who's Todd?" Shine Royce said, and everyone gave Jimmy a curious look.

"Uhm...no one. Never mind. I'm done." He nervously looked around at their curious gazes, and then down at his own shoes. Now they know I'm crazy, I know they know I'm crazy.

Patrick · June 14, 2006

John actually took his duties seriously, not yet having lost his faith in the system, which was now the system he lived in.

"You are right, that historically smoking was not considered the way it is now," he started. "My father used to tell me, that my ancestors smoked much stronger substances than simple nicotine. Some of those substances are today considered hard drugs or poisons, but my ancestors knew how to use them and survive."

John knew that if he launched himself into talking about his ancestors he could go on for the better part of the session, so he checked himself, not wanting to make a bad impression of himself right on the first day.

"About the current case, I'm not yet sure. We know almost nothing about the man, about his life, his habits, friends in childhood, lots of points which might have influenced his life. Neither have we yet heard the evidence against the tobacco companies, so I'll reserve my decision or comments until we've heard a bit of the trial."

GLJordan · June 15, 2006

We know he is over thirty and the patches contain amounts of the addictive substances in order to try to wean the person off the substance and is not a miracle substance that makes the cravings Go away Edited June 15, 2006 by Giles Jordan

Savage Dragon · June 15, 2006

"Wait a minute," Johnathan found himself shouting, "this isn't how it's done, is it? we haven't heard any witnesses or seen any evidence yet, and you all are already deciding?? We're supposed to be impartial about this till we've heard everything right?? I don't think it's fair to either side to start making assumptions now"

Johnathan realized that he had some how ended up standing up and walking to the front of the table... he'd spent too much time leading board meetings. Slightly embarrassed he headed back to seat, but not before adding

"don't even get me started on changing the government, this is supposed to be a trial about guilt and innocence, we're not world changers"

GLJordan · June 15, 2006

Relax we are just having a little discusion to help people look at things in new ways and you would be surprised how people can change the world. one way or another we will be making an impact

Akallabeth · June 15, 2006

The trial's first witness was the deceased, Jacob Wood, testifying by a video deposition taken a few months before his death. Monitors were rolled into place for viewing, and situated so all could see them.

Jacob Wood was on what looked like a hospital bed, wearing a plain white t-shirt and covered in a sheet. He was thin, gaunt, and pale, and received oxygen through a tiny tube running from behind his bony neck into his nose. His voice was raspy and sick, and he suffered from emphysema. Though he was only fifty-one, he looked seventy, and was clearly pounding on death's door.

He shared his life, beginning with his birth and going to his current age, and this took nearly an hour. Though the jury found watching a dead man talk compelling at first, they soon realized that he had led a normal life, much like their own lives. Boredom set in.

Fortunately, Judge Harkin began to suffer from this ailment also, and he called for a quick recess, which the smokers in the jury were in need of. They were walked over to a small room near the restrooms which had an open window, and Jerry Fernendez said, "Here's to Jacob Wood," as they lit up.

A while later, the deposition started up again. Jacob had moved on to his personal history of smoking, starting with the unfiltered Redtops he had smoked with his friends when he was sixteen, and then moving on to the filtered ones his wife made him get when he had left the Navy at the age of twenty-two. By the time he was twenty-five, he had gotten up to three packs a day, which he remembered, since his first child was born then, and his wife said he wouldn't live to see his grandchildren if he didn't stop smoking.

He had been desperate to quit. He had put them down for two weeks, then sneaked out at night to start again. He'd cut back from three packs a day, working down to one a day, but was back up to three again before he knew it. He had tried doctors, he had tried hypnotists, he had tried acupuncture and nicotine gum, but he couldn't stop. He couldn't stop after he was diagnosed with emphysema, and he couldn't after he was told he had lung cancer.

He talked of all the things he'd miss: his wife, kids, grandkids, friends, fishing, etc. His widow began to cry, and soon Millie Dupree was crying also. Finally, he had one request for all who saw the deposition:

"Please, if you're smoking, stop."

After this, Judge Harkin dismissed the court for the day.

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The next morning, Hoppy Dupree, Millie's husband, had some unsettling news to share with her.

Two men had approached his real estate office the day before, and had flashed their badges at him. They were from the FBI, and he was informed that he had been illegally transferring some property. He would be excused from forty years of imprisonment if his wife voted for the defendants.

Millie and Hoppy argued and shouted for some time, but in the end a tearful Millie gave in, and promised her husband that she would vote against the plaintiff.

Though neither one of them knew it, no FBI agents had visited Hoppy the previous day. The illegal land deal, and the visit by the false agents had been carefully arranged by a firm paid by the defendants to secure jurors.

The information telling that Millie's vote could be secured in this way came from a person whom the defense had not hired. As a token of their good will, honest, and willingness to deal in dirty matters, a member of the jury had provided them with this tidbit of information, as well as a plot that made use of it. Requests for payment would be arranged later. After it was understood that this juror was capable of securing whatever verdict they wanted.

(Adapted from The Runaway Jury by John Grisham)

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The first "kill" was Millie Dupree, who chose her husband's freedom over her honest service in this jury. She is still on the jury, but will almost certainly not change her vote.

For those who may have wondered, assume that the year is 1999.

Also, please note that (except for the wolf) no one knows what has happened to Millie Dupree, other than that she seems sad this morning. You are meeting in the same room to wait for the day's trial to start.

I must say, all of you are making excellent posts, and I like the way you are debating about the trial, and what has/has not been revealed. Just let me know if I should add more to my posts, or if they're getting too far to the long side.

I am going to try to give short descriptions for each of the NPC jurors so that they may be more usable in your posts. They'll be put in the OOC thread, and linked to the list at the top of this thread, which will also display kills, lynchings, and the roles revealed by each.

Remember, no in character reason is expected for your choice of a person to lynch, but be sure to leave an OOC line at the bottom of your posts saying who you are voting for.

srsizzy · June 15, 2006

"Well...that was somewhat depressing," Jimmy said, sipping at a cup of coffee. "Excellent use of ethos...or is it pathos? I don't remember, I just know it from high school."

"Yes, very sad," the jury forman said, blankly staring with his blind eyes, but still somehow writing notes on the board with his back to them. He quickly turned around, and despite his handicap, looked each of them in the eye. "Well, so we know the story of Mr. Wood..."

"However true it may have been," Millie Dupree said, sadly looking at the wall and meeting no one's gaze.

"Yes...of course." The forman scribbled a few more notes on the board, and sat before them, opening the table to discussion.

"You know, I actually have to agree. He went on and on about how there was no way he could quit, it seems maybe this lawsuit could have been made up before he died. How did they even procure such a tape? For all we know, he said all that to assure his wife a couple million dollars." Jimmy looked around the table, noting the jurors who hadn't talked much. He felt a strange suspiscion that some of them already had their minds made up.

OOC: In this case, what is lynching? Is it kicking a person off the jury?

GLJordan · June 16, 2006

"Well...that was somewhat depressing," Jimmy said, sipping at a cup of coffee. "Excellent use of ethos...or is it pathos? I don't remember, I just know it from high school."

Pathos

"Yes, very sad," the jury forman said, blankly staring with his blind eyes, but still somehow writing notes on the board with his back to them. He quickly turned around, and despite his handicap, looked each of them in the eye. "Well, so we know the story of Mr. Wood..."

"However true it may have been," Millie Dupree said, sadly looking at the wall and meeting no one's gaze.

What point would he have to lie?

He is a dead man not walking about to visist his God

"Yes...of course." The forman scribbled a few more notes on the board, and sat before them, opening the table to discussion.

"You know, I actually have to agree. He went on and on about how there was no way he could quit, it seems maybe this lawsuit could have been made up before he died. How did they even procure such a tape?

It is a video deposition so yes it was in the works before he died. As for how easy is it to quit how many here smoke? Try to stop for this trial. We know he did try and failed many times.

For all we know, he said all that to assure his wife a couple million dollars." Jimmy looked around the table, noting the jurors who hadn't talked much. He felt a strange suspiscion that some of them already had their minds made up.

Assure his Wife? How? All such cases have found for the defense!

Randomness calls for -Savage Dragon (Johnathan Deere)

srsizzy · June 17, 2006

Hmm, Jimmy thought to himself. This place seems rather silent. Quiet...almost too quiet for a jury deciding the verdict on a trial. Jimmy suspisciously pondered on who must have already decided their position on the trial. A small idea edged at the back of his mind; he thought of what would happen if the tobacco company started buying off jurors. Sure, it was entirely illegal, but some of these people looked cheap enough to be suseptible. But who was the most likely? Surely whoever it was that seemed the most for the defense, or maybe the ones who spoke the least. Jimmy decided that the most likely to be bought off was this Natasha Allan character. Perhaps someone was even being bought off by the plantiff...Jimmy realized his paranoia was setting in. He had to get a hold of himself.

Despite that, during one of the brief breaks in the meeting, Jimmy walked up to the jury forman, and talked to him alone. "I don't think this Ms. Allan is a very straight character. She seems to have made up her mind too early."

OOC, randomness/suspicion calls for NightFae (Natasha Allan)

Edited June 18, 2006 by srsizzy

Savage Dragon · June 17, 2006

"It doesn't make too much of a difference that he videotaped his testimony, if he were alive today I'm sure he could just as easily say the same things on the stand in front of us, no matter what his intentions"

OOC: Self-Defense calls for Giles Jordan (B. A. Peterson)

Mynx · June 17, 2006

Katelyn sighed restlessly, already bored out of her wits as she watched various jury members bicker with each other. Personally where everyone else had found the video heart wrenching or at the very least difficult to watch, Katelyn had spent the time staring at the walls, the ceiling, the rest of the jury...

She did have to admit though that some people in the jury had been acting strange, especially that Millie lady...Katelyn wasn't certain but she was pretty sure that the woman hadn't looked nearly as unhappy before as she did now.

Maybe this trial had something to do with it? As cynical as she was, even Katelyn had to admit it was a possibility...

OOC: Randomness calls for NightFae

NightFae · June 19, 2006

Natasha thought about the video...And thought some more. But she really couldn't come to a conclusion. She had been so terribly certain that this was the man's own fault...But now she wasn't sure. She had completely ignored parts of it because it was so terribly boring, but a few things caught her attention. She kept looking at Millie. What was her problem? She seemed so...Out of it. She shrugged it off. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to get involved. It was Millie's problem...Not hers. She just wanted out of this room.

OOC: No idea...But the dice says it's Savage Dragon(Johnathan Deere)

Ayshela · June 19, 2006

Cat sat back, watching and listening and biting her tongue as life had taught was safest. Parts of the video had been interesting, but other parts just made her worry about her kids again, and then she'd missed several moments of taped testimony. The "deliberations" were no better, constant bickering which explained nothing, confused everything, and gave her a horrendous headache.

Cat rubbed her temples and opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it and simply sighed and sat back again. Anything she said would just set off another round of shouting, and that would probably make her head explode - though that might be one way to be sent home so she could get her kids.

OOC: the dice call for Peterson/Giles Jordan.

Patrick · June 19, 2006

Some of his fellow jurors seemed to be making quite rapid decisions about the trial, or the outcome it should have and this troubled John. He himself preferred to see all of the evidence before coming to a decision.

He carefully voiced his opinion.

"We have only seen one piece of evidence so far. Am I the only one to feel that it is nowhere near enough to conclude on the guilt or innocence of the tobacco companies in this trial? I feel that we are having too many arguments considering the early stage the trial is in."

OOC: vote for Cat/Ayshela

Akallabeth · June 20, 2006

Shortly before going to the courtroom, one of the jurors was summoned to the Judge's chambers.

The juror stepped through the door, and immediately saw that the judge was not alone, that there was also a deputy sheriff in his office.

"Please, be seated."

Judge Harkin stood, and began pacing around the room.

"In these trials, there have always been attempts by both sides to change the jury, to buy a verdict. I did not expect this trial to be one of those."

He turned to the juror. "I've done my best to protect you all from the influnce of others, but it seems that I have not entirely succeeded. I have been informed by a source that I will not name that you recieved a bribe of one hundred thousand dollars to vote for the plaintiff upon being selected for this jury, with an additional five hundred thousand promised upon a successful verdict. You will be given your day in court, but until then, you will be a guest in our jail."

B.A. Peterson bore a visibly shocked look upon his face, though the Judge could not tell if it was from being discovered, or from disbelief in anyone accusing him of such dishonorable action.

The deputy escorted him out as the Judge proceeded into the courtroom.

----------------

As the jury filed into the courtroom without Mr. Peterson, they wondered at his absence, as most of them assumed he would meet them in the courtroom. Instead, they found Judge Harkin in his place, gazing sternly at the remaining members of the jury.

"Due to reasons which will not be named at this time, Mr. Peterson has been removed from this jury. The first alternate, Mr. Nicolas Easter, will take his place. Also, for the protection of the jury, they will be sequestered for the remainder of the trial. Each member and alternate will be escorted home, and allowed to pack one bag. They will then be taken to the place that will be their residence for the next several days."

After this, Mr. Easter took his place among the other jurors, and fourteen displeased faces watched the testimony of the day.

The next witness for the plaintiff was Dr. Hilo Kilvan.

He was a Canadian doctor who had been brought from Montreal to testify for this trial. For the past twenty years, he had been studying the ratios of lung cancer mortality between smokers and non-smokers.

He used simple speech whenever possible, and pointed out several of the findings of his studies to the jurors:

-The risk of lung cancer is ten times greater for a smoker who goes through fifteen cigarettes a day over a period of ten years than for a non-smoker.

-If three packs are smoked per day, as Mr. Wood smoked, the risk is twenty-five times greater

-Cigarettes kill four hundred thousand Americans each year, and thus are the single deadliest product on the market. Except for guns, nothing else comes close. Also, while guns are not designed to be aimed and fired at people, cigarettes are designed to be lit and puffed, and are thus used properly. They are deadly if used exactly as intended.

After some hours of his testimony, the plaintiff finished with him, and handed him over to the defense for cross-examination.

After discussing some rather meaningless statistics, Durwood Cable, the primary defense lawyer, started to get warmed up.

After a series of questions, he found that Dr. Kilvan would admit that he believed only ten percent of smokers actually got lung cancer, though he always pointed back to his findings saying that smokers had a much higher risk of lung cancer than non-smokers.

Cable asked Kilvan several more questions about some studies showing that there was a greater incidence of lung cancer for urban smokers than for rural smokers, with Dr. Kilvan staying with the same answers.

He finished with some more questions about a study from the University of Stockholm that pointed to heredity as a possible cause for lung cancer, which Dr. Kilvan did not wish to comment on as heredity was not his specialty.

Upon Cable's completion of his cross-examination, the jury was released to pack, get their affairs in order, and return to the courthouse to be taken to their home for the next days.

Several hours later, they were all lodged in the Siesta Inn in a coastal town thirty miles to the west. The next morning, they were all more than happy to return to court, and try to get through the case that would keep them in cheap quarters until its completion.

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B.A. Peterson / Giles Jordan was an innocent juror, a Villager.

It is now "night phase", which I will allow to run for two days, ending on June 22nd at 5:30 AM GMT.

Specials, PM me.

Akallabeth · June 22, 2006

The jurors filed into the courtroom.

Wendell Rohr had a feeling that the jurors were ready for more interesting material. His jury consultants concurred.

His next witness was to be Lawrence Krigler, and as the name was said, all members of the defense became very tense.

Lawrence Krigler was a tanned and fit man in his sixties, and had worked for a tobacco company for thirty years before leaving after a lawsuit he had with the company.

He started out with a brief introduction.

He'd recieved his degree from North Carolina State, and gone to work in the study of tobacco production. He had studies how best to grow the leaf, and was an expert in this field.

About 30 years ago, he had completed a three year study on the feasibility of growing an experimental tobacco plant containing a third of the nicotine of regular tobacco. It could be produced just as well as any other tobacco plant, and he highly recommended it.

He was devestated when the company higher ups ignored his work.

Two years later, he found out why his work had been ignored. An intercompany memo found its way into his hands, telling management to do whatever they could to discredit his research. Keeping his cool at this betrayal by his company, he began to look into the cause of this memo.

The answer soon became clear. His company could not afford to produce a tobacco plant that had lower nicotine levels, as that would lower profits. The industry knew nicotine was physically addictive. More nicotine meant more smokers, which meant more sales and more profits.

He pointed out that though nicotine was not a cancer causing agent, it was a poison that caused addiction, and allowed carcinogens in the tobacco to eventually take care of those who used the tobacco, which was why it was so dangerous.

At this time, the court broke for lunch, and Durwood Cable was given his turn at cross-examining Mr. Krigler.

He started out with a simple, "Good afternoon," and began the tough questioning.

He quickly established that Mr. Krigler did not hate anyone or anything (besides broccoli), was not being paid to testify, had smoked for twenty years and quit, and felt that the company was partly to blame for his smoking, due to special prices on cigarettes for employees, and free cigarettes in meetings.

Cable was not having a very successful cross examination.

However, he soon hit some more tender areas.

He discovered that Mr. Krigler's sister died from lung cancer, giving him the reason that he had to be in the courtroom. The day before she died, Mr. Krigler he promised he would quite smoking, and stopped over a period of three years.

At this, Cable changed his line. He began to bombard Krigler with questions about his company performance, and why he had continued working for a tobacco company at a salary of $90,000 a year for ten years after his sister's death. This continued for the rest of the day, and the jury was dismissed.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Deere recieved a phone call to his unlisted room number, and picked up the reciever. The voice sounded familiar, but somewhat muffled.

"Hello Deere. You have a vote we want, and we intend to get it. We wouldn't try straight out bribery, but we have something that might be of interest to you. Look beside your door."

John set down the reciever, and slowly walked to the door. A sheaf of papers lay there, obviously slid under the door without him noticing a thing.

They contained the blueprints to a new series of tractor that Case-New Holland was in the process of designing, something that he was sure their CEO hadn't even seen.

And he had them.

Returning to the reciever, he picked it up again, and said in a low voice, "How did you get them, and are there more?"

A chuckle sounded over the line.

"Oh, yes, there are more. Many more. If you wish to have all of the 89 complete blueprints we have, you will vote as we wish. How we got them is not your concern. Just vote as instructed, and the other 88 are yours."

His hands shook as he said, "It's a deal."

"Good. Now just listen for your instructions..."

----------------------------

The next day, they were taken to the courthouse in another bus, and filed into the jury room after another dull evening and night at the motel.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Johnathan Deere / Savage Dragon was an innocent villager, who has been bought and paid for by a corporate windfall.

(For those who do not know, John Deere and Case - New Holland are both tractor/farm equipment manufacturers, and very much competitors.)

Savage Dragon, you can RP if you wish, but you may not try to influence other jurors in their decisions. And I hope that the "kill" is acceptable.

Day phase has now begun, lynch if you wish, and day phase will end in two days time, on June 24, 2006 at 5:30 AM GMT.

srsizzy · June 22, 2006

"Personally, I'd like to know when we'll hear from the defense. This is all tragic, and I think we all get the point. Cigarettes are addictive and can cause lung cancer and such." Jimmy sighed, sipping at a cup of coffee. "They're pressing the same point, and I don't know about you, but I'm very curious to see what the defense pulls."

As the discussion moved on, Jimmy found himself once again thinking of people who were bought off. This was a very serious trial. One person had been removed from the jury already, and rumor had it that the plantiff had bought him off. Who knew what the defense would do, what, with their fortunes of money, and seemingly limitless power. More and more faces seemed to look untinterested in a way that meant they would not change their minds.

OOC: Suspicion calls for...NightFae/Natasha Allan

WW XXVIII: The Runaway Jury

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