¶ Courts
Sooner or later, you will have a reason to interact with the justice system on one side or the other. You're either a criminal who will eventually get locked up, or a civilian who may want to press charges. It's good to have a working understanding of how the justice system operates so that there's no surprises.
¶ Arrests and Charges
A person's journey through the criminal justice system begins when the police slap the bracelets on and arrest them. At this point, the person has not been formally charged, but they are under arrest. The police have 24 hours from this moment to either charge or release the individual. 99.9% of the time, the charges are submitted as soon as the person is transported back to the nearest police precinct and placed into a holding cell.
¶ Legal Representation
Everyone is entitled to a lawyer. If someone under arrest tells the police they want an attorney, the police have an in-game mechanic for submitting a request for a lawyer. This request goes to the Lawyers channel in Discord where all certified attorneys will see it. If a lawyer is available but not online, they will typically DM the police and say they're on their way.
If a lawyer is not available, the accused may choose whether or not to speak with the police and/or District Attorney (if available). If the individual chooses not to speak to anyone, the police must continue with filing charges. After the charges are filed, the accused must enter a plea (see the next section).
If the individual chooses to negotiate with the police and/or District Attorney, charges may be amended or dropped. It is important to note that the police may only decide whether or not to file specific charges. They cannot adjust the fines or jail time for any charge. Once charges have been filed, only a representative from the District Attorney's office is authorized to negotiate penalties and/or drop charges.
¶ Guilty or Not Guilty
Once charges have been filed, the accused must decide whether to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. This is accomplished through the in-game /court command. A guilty plea comes with an immediate 50% reduction in all jail time and fines. When someone enters a guilty plea, they are immediately transported to prison to serve their sentence. The case is closed.
When someone enters a plea of not guilty, they have two options: Post bail or stay locked up until trial. At this time, bail is offered and tracked by the police department independently. In the future, there will be in-game mechanics to support posting bail. If the defendant cannot post bail for whatever reason, they stay locked up. This typically means the person will be sent to prison "for the 9s" pending resolution of the case or trial.
If a charged individual refuses to cooperate and enter a plea, it is assumed their plea is not guilty and they will be held until trial.
¶ Court Procedure
Once someone has plead not guilty, the road to a trial begins. This process may last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on the scheduling availability of the participants. At any point along the way, the defendant may opt to change their plea to guilty which halts the process and sends them to prison on any existing charges.
The court process is conducted via Discord in a temporary channel where all participants can coordinate asynchronously. After entering a plea of not guilty, it is the defendant's responsibility (or their lawyer's) to open a support ticket and state that they are awaiting trial for the specified case. An administrator will take over the ticket from there and make sure that the right people are pulled in.
The court process happens as a number of sequential steps outlined below.
¶ Discovery
During the discovery phase, the prosecution must turn over all evidence they intend to present at trial to the defense. This includes any police reports, photographs, phyiscal evidence, list of witnesses, and so on. Anything that is not shared with the defense during discovery may not be presented at trial. This exchange takes place in the temporary Discord channel for the case.
¶ Pre-Trial Motions
Next, both the prosecution and defense have the opportunity to submit pre-trial motions. A motion is an application to the court for the judge to take action in some way. There are various different types of motions, but some of the most common are motions to exclude particular pieces of evidence, or motions to dismiss the case outright for some procedural violations. Both defense and prosecution will submit their motions via the temporary Discord channel for the case.
¶ Plea Deals
Trials are expensive and time-consuming in real life just as they are on the server. The state does not want to go to trial if it can be avoided, which is why plea deals exist. The District Attorney has absolute authority to decide what cases should be taken to trial. They may add or remove charges to open cases and adjust jail times or fines, all with the goal of getting the defendant to agree to a plea deal. As soon as a plea deal is reached, the defendant may enter a guilty plea and the trial process halts.
A good defense attorney knows that the state does not want a trial, and will use this to their client's advantage when negotiating a plea. How far the DA is willing to bend depends on several factors, including the amount of evidence in the case as well as its political relevance. A DA who is trying to take a zero-tolerance stance on drugs is far less likely to negotiate pleas in drug cases.
¶ Trial
If the court process plays out and both sides are unable to reach a plea deal, an in-game trial will be scheduled for a day and time that is convenient for all participants.