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Court Cases



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Introduction

Presenting to the Jury
Seers' Village has always prided itself on its judicial system. It is considered to be fair, just, with an impressive courthouse and some fantastic balloon drops. Unfortunately, a strong judicial system falls apart if there are no lawyers to help try the case; you see, the Seers' Village residents regularly fall into the 'seer' business, making elemental armour, or picking flax all day.

Having shown rudimentary criminal law knowledge in the King's Ransom quest, the Seers' Village courthouse wants you back to help prosecute or defend their overflow of cases. They have an unusual method of summoning you, however; you will find court case summons when thieving, fishing, fighting or doing clue scrolls. See Getting Started to find out more.

Requirements

You will need to complete King's Ransom to receive a court summons. To prosecute a court case, you need 65 Attack. To defend a case, you need 65 Defence. You may also find that a Ring of Charos comes in handy.

To receive a court case summons, you must have completed the Mugger (level 6) vs. Roger Murray court case. This acts as a tutorial, and you do not need a court summons to begin prosecuting or defending this case.

Note - If you have a court summons in your inventory or bank, you will not receive any more court summons until you complete the case or destroy the summons.

Getting Started

Location of the Seers' Courthouse
To defend or prosecute a case, you will first need to complete the Mugger (level 6) vs. Roger Murray court case. This is a tutorial case, and will take you through the finer points of courtroom etiquette. For all other cases you will need a court summons, and these are relatively uncommon. You can receive a court summons from any one of the following activities:
  • Monster drops (including giants, paladins, trolls, steel dragons, lesser demons, etc)
  • Pickpocketing (including warriors, knights, paladins, gnomes, heroes and dwarf traders)
  • Fishing caskets
  • Treasure Trails
With a court summons in hand, you can travel to the Seers' Village Courthouse and talk to the clerk to start the case, and decide whether to defend or prosecute. Before descending into the courtroom via the stairs, you should check the case file cabinet to get your case reports, analyse any fingerprints, and talk to the relevant witnesses in the temporary jails that have been set up on ground level.

Current court cases include, but are not limited to:
  • Mugger (level 6) vs. Roger Murray
  • River troll vs. The People
  • Drunken Dwarf vs. The People
  • Evil Twin vs. Good Twin
  • Rick Turpentine vs. The People


Trying a Case

To successfully complete a court case, you will need to do a number of things in preparation. Cases come with up to three case reports, for example, which can be obtained from the filing cabinet on the ground floor of the courthouse. It is essential that you read these if you want to make a coherent case. Keep a note of all their details to win in the courtroom.

Matching fingerprints
You may also be given fingerprints to analyse. You can analyse the fingerprints by comparing the crime scene fingerprint with the potential matches for that fingerpint, across the bottom-left of the interface. If you correctly match the fingerprints, then the evidence can aid your case when you defend or prosecute.

It is also worth talking to witnesses connected to your current case, all listed in the case report. Most of the time, the related witnesses will be awaiting your interrogation in the court room jails, on the ground level of the courthouse, but a case will occasionally require you to travel afield and find the witness in question.

You may also be asked to investigate the crime scene itself. This is done via a crime scene orb, given to you with the case reports. These orbs take you to a static representation of the crime scene, allowing you to view it as if you were actually there. Gather your evidence from the scene, and analyse it to strengthen your case. You might even get the chance to use a bat-in-a-box, which is specific to one case; this well-trained domestic animal will give you an indication, should you left-click on it, of the decibel level in any area. That may seem useless, but it will help you to determine if specific areas are above the regulation noise levels, and that might - might - just come in useful.

Once you are confident of your knowledge of the case, head down the stairs in the courthouse. A conventional court case will start with the Prosecution, and then follow with the Defence. Whichever side you have chosen, you will be required to choose what evidence you wish to present, whether physical or from witnesses. Choose your physical evidence and witnesses carefully, and only present evidence which will contribute to your arguments. The Jury will give you a good idea if your choice was a good one, an inconsequential one, or one that severely damages your case...

You can choose to cross-examine witnesses or present physical evidence by talking to the Judge. Once you are happy with your presentation, you can also talk to the Judge and let him know that you are ready to summarise your case to the Jury. After a quick conclusion, you can choose a Jury member to focus your speech on; choose someone who you feel would be sensitive to your case to achieve the greatest results. The Jury will then make their verdict. Good luck!

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Rewards

If a court case goes in your favour, you are entitled to a reward. You can collect your reward from the clerk on the ground level of the courthouse. The reward you receive is dependent on the case you took, and whether you defended or prosecuted. You can receive anything from 2,000xp to 20,000xp, and items may also be given to you in return for your hard work.

Complete 5 cases and you will be given a barrister's wig to wear and impress your friends with your legal eagle skills. Complete 10 cases and your experience in law and order will gain you a barrister top. Become an ace attorney with 16 completed cases and you will have access to a gavel, which will allow you to knock a little justice into your friends, while giving you a brand new 'Order!' emote!

Development Team
Batch 2
Developer: Nancy J Developer: Nancy J
Lead Designer: Mark O Lead Designer: Mark O
QA: Nicola C, Reece W, Sarah J QA: Thomas H, Hakan S, Adam D
Graphics: Alex R, Matt M Graphics: Alex R, Matt M
Audio: Adam B Audio: Adam B