Turnabout Storm Parts 40 and 41 updated with a major change... · 3:51pm Jul 24th, 2018
You may recall that in the videos, Trixie convinced The Judge to limit Phoenix's first cross-examination of Gilda based on the simple fact that she 'had an important job' and 'was very busy'. In reality, not even The Judge is so big a pushover he would let her get away with something so brazenly in defiance of court rules, so in Part 40 - A Mythological Witness I changed the rationale to something he couldn't ignore and the restriction Trixie imposed to something more suitable for story expansion:
————— Witness Testimony —————
— What I saw, Dweebs! —“Rainbow Dash killed that other pony with a storm cloud. I was there…”
The Judge broke the awkward silence first. “Uh…?” was the only thing he could think to say.
“And there you have it, Your Honor! Decisive eyewitness testimony!” Trixie proclaimed.
But everypony else in the room had their jaws dropped wide open, no more so than Phoenix himself. “That was no testimony! That was barely even a statement!” he shook off his shock and stated the obvious, expecting something more than the sentence and a half the witness delivered.
The Judge nodded in agreement. “I have to agree with the defense here. That was far too short and undetailed to be considered a proper testimony, Ms. Trixie.”
“Let Trixie explain, Your Honor,” she said easily. “This was one of the conditions Trixie had to uphold.”
“What conditions?” Phoenix followed up with his own question, hand on his chin again.
“As this court can plainly see, the witness is not a citizen of Equestria, and as it turns out, there are… diplomatic considerations to her appearing in court. By the terms of the treaty between our two nations, Equestrian courts are not allowed to subpoena a citizen of the Griffon Kingdom unaccused of a crime without first having it approved by the Kingdom Consulate. In this instance, they granted permission for her to testify, but only under a very strict set of conditions, noted here.” She floated a sealed scroll to the Judge and the defense bench.
The Judge broke the seal and then unrolled the scroll, reading the contents in some surprise. “Ms. Trixie, this is highly irregular…”
“To say nothing of improper!” Phoenix protested as he read them as well. “Brief statement only? Just three minutes of questioning? Your Honor, I can’t effectively cross-examine a witness like this!”
“Mister Wright has a point, Ms. Trixie. The defense has the right to challenge the testimony, but these are very restrictive terms.”
“I agree, Your Honor. But when Gilda came forward as a witness, she said she was constrained from testifying and had to first consult with the Griffon Consulate in Canterlot, which is why she didn’t report it sooner. But she insisted, worked out the terms with her embassy, at which point she stepped forth and admitted to seeing the crime. She deserves a medal for doing the right thing!” Trixie claimed.
Upon hearing this, Gilda stood up straighter and gave out a huge smile, preening over the praise. “Yeah, I do deserve a medal, don’t I?” she suggested, while Rainbow Dash launched into a fresh fit of movement, eyes bulging and wings shaking, pulling hard against her restraints, looking like she wanted to launch herself at the larger griffon and beat her to a pulp.
Sympathizing with the sentiment, Phoenix curled his lip and gave the winged witness a glare. You’re sure modest… he said to himself, taking an instant disliking to her, certain there was more to the story then a single statement of testimony as Trixie continued to talk.
“These are the terms, Your Honor. So Trixie prepared a testimony that meets those requirements and will have her in and out of here in no time.”
“What can I say? I’m a really busy griffon!” Gilda agreed, gesturing casually with an upturned forepaw.
“Speaking of which, Mister Wrong…” Trixie turned her attention to Phoenix this time.
“What?” he asked, expecting to hear another insult.
“As you have already read, you’re only allowed three minutes of questioning during the cross-examination. So choose your tangents and topics to nitpick carefully!” Trixie teased.
“Your Honor! This is in direct contravention of court rules!” Phoenix appealed to The Judge for support. “If the defense cannot properly cross-examine her, then the defense moves that her testimony be disallowed!”
Trixie turned to The Judge and tried to persuade him to her terms. “Trixie understands the defense’s frustration, Your Honor, but my hooves are tied here,” she said in a strangely respectful tone. “This is not just my request, but that of the Griffon government, and part of the agreement under which Ms. Gilda would testify is that the cross-examination would be limited. I am aware this is irregular, but please understand I had no choice but to agree, as Mister Wrong’s endless badgering could cause a diplomatic incident by grilling her all day for no other reason than for him to selfishly stall.” She put a hoof to her chest and her nose in the air as she spoke.
Phoenix crossed his arms at that. “And just what is her job, anyway? I notice you didn’t ask for her occupation, Trixie,” he noted, following up the previous unasked question when the witness arrived. It almost HAS to be significant if Trixie deliberately omitted it… and what does she mean by a ‘diplomatic incident’?
Trixie just grunted. “Both she and the Kingdom wish it to be kept confidential, but Trixie offers her personal assurance to this court it has nothing to do with this case, Your Honor,” she concluded.
Phoenix quickly put two and two together, coming up with an answer based on what Twilight had related to him of her investigation the previous day. I think I know EXACTLY what her occupation is… Phoenix speculated as the judge examined the scroll and accompanying legal treaty text Trixie had passed him. And if I’m right, Gilda’s job might be only TOO relevant to this!
The Judge reviewed the documentation again before nodding reluctantly, stroking his long beard for the first time that morning. “This request appears to be in order and in line with an accepted treaty,” he conceded. “I don’t like it either, but I’m afraid my hands are tied as well, Mister Wright. Your objection is overruled. Barring witness misconduct, I may only allow you three minutes of questioning.”
Trixie grinned in satisfaction while Phoenix’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “Hah! Thank you for understanding, Your Honor,” the former said. “She’s all yours, Mister Wrong.”
Phoenix was anything but pleased. NO! I can’t believe she got away with that! Trixie’s just trying to make my cross-examination as shallow as possible so I can’t get any information out of Gilda! he complained mentally, but as he examined his copy for the treaty text, he knew he was trapped as well. Why do I all always get these completely arbitrary restrictions placed on me? You’d think we were playing a GAME or something!
Hopefully that works. The reason I switched from three questions to three minutes was twofold: first, in the videos, Trixie answered for Gilda twice to make Phoenix waste his questions, but in reality, there's no way in hell The Judge would allow her to get away with that--attorneys can't answer for witnesses. She still tries to do so here, but her objective in doing so is simply to waste time rather than questions. Secondly, this allows me to expand the initial cross to let Phoenix ask more questions of Gilda and try to get the information he needs from her under a time limit. I recited the cross examination testimony out loud and it did indeed take about three minutes.
As for Part 41 - Eagle Eyed Evasions (yes, I renamed it), changes were more minor there, but I did the usual cleanup and updated the graphics to make them more clear. The chapter also explains--hopefully convincingly--why the griffons were trying to restrict Gilda's testimony.
I think these two chapter revamps came out very well, though there may still be some additional changes as I'm waiting for one final preread. The usual thanks go to my prereading crew of Silentwoodfire, AJ_Aficionado and Denim_Blue, whose comments and asides on the google doc are always fun reading!
Yeah, I think this works better. Trixie may have invested a LOT of points into charisma, but regardless of that, she is in court and there's are some basic rules that have to be followed, regardless of how convenient or not they are.
4907101
Sorry for not responding sooner, but I appreciate you saying so, thanks!
4911975
Not a problem.