Criminal Law

[Dredwulf60]

This system may not be appropriate for typical Star Wars space opera, but I have need of it when dealing with my outlaw mandalorians.

I can't remember if I've inverted the classes of crimes from what was in the RAW or not.


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Legal proceedings:

Offenses come in 5 categories, with category 1 being the most serious and having the harshest penalties and category 5 being the least serious and having the lightest penalties.

Lawyers:

Lawyers are rated by die class.

Base cost:
*D x*D x 100 cr (Die class squared times 100cr)

Skill---Cost:
1D6---100cr
2D6---400cr
3D6---900cr
4D6---1,600cr
5D6---2,500cr
6D6---3,600cr
7D6---4,900cr
8D6---6,400cr
9D6---8,100cr
10D6---10,000cr
This is sufficient for an hourly consultation.


For trial purposes, multiply the hourly rate by the category of the crime:

Category 5: x1
Category 4: x2
Category 3: x4
Category 2: x8
Category 1: x16

This is the cost of the lawyer’s services per day during a trial.

Base Imperial Lawyer skill in the trial is based on the most serious offense being prosecuted:
Category 5: 1D
Category 4: 2D
Category 3: 4D
Category 2: 7D
Category 1: 11D

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Probable Grounds:
Even before there can be a trial, the criminal must be charged. That is the job of the police or investigation team. In order for there to be a charge, the evidence must meet a certain threshold for probable grounds and reasonable chance of conviction.

When considering whether there is enough evidence for law enforcement to seek out, arrest and charge a subject, roll the local law enforcement investigation skill dice.
The standard DC is 20 for categories 4 and 5.

Due to the higher expenses of trial and investigation, the threshold is higher for more serious crimes. Lesser investigations units will often notify and defer to more specialized units for their expertise.

The standard DC is 30 for categories 1, 2 and 3.

Use the evidence and witness modifiers in this roll. If the DC is achieved, they have enough grounds to proceed with the arrest and charge; seeking a warrant or placing a bounty if the subject is evasive.

Typical Investigative dice available:
Typical planetary police: 2D6
Core worlds police: 3D6
Specialty crime investigation (detective) unit: 4D6
Sector rangers: 4D6
Sector Investigation unit: 5D6
Core worlds criminal investigation branch: 5D6
Imperial Bureau of Investigation: 6D6
COMPNOR Intelligence: 7D6
Imperial Inquisitors: 8D6

Modifiers

Add dice to the investigation roll based on the evidence that is gathered:

Witness testimony: +1D
Eyewitness testimony: +2D
Material witness testimony: +4D
Victim testimony: +5D
Visual evidence: +1D to +3D
Physical evidence: +2D to +5D




Administration of a Trial:
Trials are complex matters, but in essence it boils down to an opposed roll between the prosecution and the defense.

Both sides roll their law skill dice and apply the modifiers. The highest roll ‘wins’ the case.

Trial Length: Lawyers are paid per day of the trial. Add together both the lawyer’s rolls and divide by 10; this is the length of the trial in days.

Retainer: Most quality lawyers demand a retainer. This is a large fund of money up front so that they can conduct the work necessary to prepare for and administer the trial. Money not spent is refunded after the trial. Organizations may have lawyers on permanent retainer. They are paid an agreed sum on a regular basis; typically four times the hourly rate on a monthly basis. This is like insurance, and covers all of the regular costs of preparing for a trial, though they typically still charge the standard daily rate while actually conducting the trial.




Modifiers to the Trial:

Witness testimony: +3
Eyewitness testimony: +5
Material witness testimony: +8
Victim testimony: +10
Expert Witness: +6
Multiple charges: + * (10 minus the category of the charge) for each additional charge.
Criminal history: +4 for every previous conviction of the same offence.

Visual evidence: +1 to +5
Physical evidence: +2 to +10




Plea bargain: Automatically found guilty, but prosecution gets the result of their law skill roll divided by 2 when applied for sentencing purposes below.

Alternatively a plea bargain can get one or more charges dropped. In this case remove the modifier for that charge from the law skill roll when it comes to the sentencing roll, and add that bonus to the defence total for sentencing purposes.



Sentencing
If the prosecution has the higher modified skill roll during the trial then the accused is found to be guilty.

Find the difference in the rolls of the two lawyers to determine the sentence:

Prosecution is higher by:

-10 or less (only possible with a plea bargain). Absolute Discharge; no penalty.

0 to -9 (only possible with a plea bargain). Discharge; found guilty but no immediate penalty except for a period of probation with conditions.

1 to 5: Minimum
6-10: Light
11-15: Standard
16-20: Harsh
21+: Maximum


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Typical crimes:

Category 1
Treason against the Empire
Piracy
Murder

Category 2
Sedition against the Empire
Robbery
Computer data subversion
Forgery
Kidnapping
Cause death
Rape



Category 3
Operate space transport without accreditation
Fail to identify
Mischief/ destruction of property
Buy/sell restricted substance/ item
Bribery of Imperial official
Theft
Blackmail
Extortion
Cause/ allow collision

Category 4
Pilot spaceship without licence
Buy/sell controlled substance
Restricted substance/item possession
Cause disturbance
Assault

Category 5
Exceed spacefaring velocity
Operate without permit
Controlled substance possession


















Punishments:

Category 1
Minimum: 60 years in prison
Light: 120 years in prison
Standard: 100 years hard labour
Harsh: Death by Execution
Maximum: Death by hard labour



Category 2
Minimum: 2 years in prison.
Light: 5 years in prison.
Standard: 10 years in prison.
Harsh: 15 years hard labour.
Maximum: 20 years hard labour


Category 3
Minimum: 180 days in jail plus 20,000cr fine
Light: 1 year in prison plus 20,000cr fine.
Standard: 1 year in prison plus 30,000cr fine and lifetime ban.
Harsh: 3 years in prison/ 30,000cr fine and lifetime ban.
Maximum: 5 years in prison/ 50,000cr fine and lifetime ban.


Category 4
Minimum: 40 days jail/ 1500cr fine.
Light: 60 days jail/ 2000cr fine.
Standard: 90 days jail/ 5000cr fine and 5 year licence suspension.
Harsh: 180 days jail/ 10,000cr fine and 8 year licence suspension
Maximum: 1 year jail/ 15,000cr fine and 10 year licence suspension.



Category 5
Minimum: Notation of warning.
Light: Mandatory counselling/ 100cr fine
Standard: Mandatory counselling or community service/ 200cr fine
Harsh: Suspended licence or community service (as applicable)/ 500cr fine
Maximum: 30 days jail/ 1000cr fine

[/u]

[garhkal]

While i agree, something like this may not be used in most of SW, i have actually played in part of a module where a mass trial was the main thrust of the session.. We as rebels had to try and find some witnesses that the 'prosecution' was hiding that would have refuted some of the evidence against the person being charged (a local rebel leader), we also was given the chance on our own to go through the crime scene to 'CSI' it to see if we could locate any contrary evidence to what the police located..
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Dredwulf60]

Speaking of CSI-ing it...

The state of Forensic sciences in the Star Wars galaxy is open to imagination, interpretation, and plain old opinion.

Presumably every GM will make their own decisions on such matters, and it may vary from planet to planet and even campaign to campaign depending on the tone.

Sometimes you may want it to be on par with the old west: catching them red-handed, reliance on eyewitnesses and/or possession of stolen goods.

Sometimes you may want it to be on par with classic detective work.

Sometimes you would like it to be on par with modern investigative techniques or beyond.

Part of my job involves the real deal; scenes of crime officer.

This naturally has me thinking about forensics in the game.

I'm going under some basic assumptions:

Nearly every species has some biometric factors that can identify them as individuals; for humans it's fingerprints and retina patterns...for lots of organisms it would be DNA or its alien equivalent.

The science of ballistics is very important when dealing with a murder weapon; matching a projectile to a firearm. I imagine that there would be some sort of sci-fi variant for blasters. Perhaps something to do with the way the magnetic field that envelops the plasma packet ruptures and affects the quantum orientation of particles in the target....something that would let investigators have a decent chance of comparing a sample from the injured flesh to the characteristics of the weapon that delivered the shot to reliably make a match.

I'm just thinking 'out loud' here.

[garhkal]

THink away. BUT if each blaster had something unique to it, wouldn't that change with putting in different blaster gas and power packs?
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Dredwulf60]

[JironGhrad]

[Dredwulf60]

Also; it gives a bit more rationale to the complicated way Jango tried to assassinate Padme in Attack of the Clones. He sure went out of his way to try to keep his hands clean.

[Whill]

[Dredwulf60]

Okay, perhaps....but shifting the onus to Zam...

I was mainly referring to the use of critters planted in the bedroom by droids. Not your typical sniper shot assassination.

Yes, with Jedi protectors th direct approach reduces the overall effectiveness of the attempt...but a case could be made for any such attempt when the bodyguards have prescient senses.

And Jango did use a kaminoan sabre dart to take out Zam...that he could reasonably believe was untraceable rather than a blaster bolt.

[RyanDarkstar]

[Naaman]

[Naaman]

[Whill]

[Naaman]

Yeah, but it should have been obvious when Mace crashed the party...or are we to believe that Obi-Wan "never saw" Jango at that shindig?

[Dredwulf60]