Classroom 6

[Jethro Gibbs]

Gibbs thought about for a seccond before firing them off in the order follow.

"Starfleet:
Flag Admiral - Fleet Admiral - Admiral - Vice Admiral - Rear Admiral - Commodore - Fleet Captain - Captain - Commander - Lieutenant Commander - Lieutenant - Lieutenant Junior Grade - Ensign
There are also some 'in-between' ranks, like Captain J.G. and Major, but I left those out.

Marines:
Field Marshal - General - Lieutenant General - Major General - Brigadier General - Colonel - Lieutenant Colonel - Major - Captain - First Lieutenant - Second Lieutenant

There are also, of course, the cadets, from Class 1 up till Class 4"

Hoping he hadn't missed any he waited for the answer.

[Bud Roberts]

OoC: Oh sure, say we can take our time at the end, after I already read through it all.  http://www.expansionfleet.com/ikonboard/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'> j/k

Hope you feel better.

[Bud Roberts]

*Bud thought for a moment before resopnding.*

"Environmental law is one, I believe."

[Jethro Gibbs]

OFF: Sorry but when are we getting started again?

[T'mpal]

OFF:  Do you perfer the response by message or to be posted as a reply?

[Richard Ransom]

Exlenlent Job  you got  top; Marks  on that please Wain until the Next segment

[T'mpal]

OFF: I'm sorry it took me so long to post.
IC:T'mpal:  "Your honor, may I proceed with my opening statement"
*Receives a wave*
T'mpal:  "Member of the Court Martial, you have just heard the prosecutor try his hardest to make my clients look guilty.  He claimed that my clients had vengeful attitudes towards the chief engineer, but the commanding officer of a starship has wide discretion in who serves aboard his starship and could transfer him off if he was so inclined.  The prosecution tried to show that the only way the cargo bay could have been decompressed was through the order of at least two ranking officers; however, the defense will show another possibility.  The defense will show that it is possible for the chief engineer to have decompressed the cargo bay himself.  Thank you."
Ransom:  You may call your first witness.
T'mpal:  "I call Captain John Smith."
Court Officer:  "Do you swear that the testimony, you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
Cpt. Smith:  "I do"
Ransom:  "You may be seated."
T'mpal:  "Captain Smith, please state your name rank and current billet for the record."
Smith:  "John Smith, Captain, Senior Operations Professor, Starfleet Academy."
T'mpal:  "Captain Smith, how long have you worked in starship operations?"
Smith:  "I have worked for twenty-five years, ten years as operations officer aboard two different starships and fifteen year as a professor at Starfleet Academy.  During this time, I have authored several papers and articles on starship operations, security, and safety procedures and given advice to the Starfleet Corps of Engineers and Starfleet Command for procedures to ensure safety during starship operations."
T'mpal:  "Your honor at this time I ask that Captain Smith be recognized as an expert in the fields of starship operations and starship safety and security procedures."
*Upon receiving approval*
T'mpal:  "Captain Smith, have you reviewed the JAG report and supporting materials?"
Smith:  "I have."
T'mpal:  "The prosecution contends that the only way to override the safety protocols on the cargo bay force field when life signs are present are through the authorization of at least two ranking officers, is there any other way?"
Smith:  "If the person or persons in the cargo bay tell the computer and give secondary confirmation to decompress the cargo bay, the computer will drop the force field and decompress the cargo bay.  The only other way to decompress the shuttle bay is to manually override the force field, which can only be done from inside the cargo bay."
T'mpal:  "Captain Smith, what is the procedure to decompress the cargo bay from within using the computer?"
Smith:  "The officer inside the cargo bay tells the computer to disengage the force field, the computer asks for the officer's authorization code to confirm the identity, the officer gives the command code, the computer asks for confirmation, and if the officer confirms the order, the force field is disengaged and the cargo bay is decompressed."
T'mpal:  "Disengaging the force field from inside the cargo bay only requires one access code?"
Smith:  "Yes."
T'mpal:  "Captain Smith, in your expert opinion, is it possible that the Chief Engineer disengaged the force field and decompressed the cargo bay?"
Smith:  "In my professional opinion, it is possible that the Chief Engineer disengaged the force field and decompressed the cargo bay."
T'mpal:  "I have no further questions for this witness."
*After calling and questioning several character witnesses*
T'mpal:  "The defense rests"
*After the Prosecution's closing argument*
Ransom:  "The defense may proceed with your closing argument"
T'mpal:  "Thank you.  Members of the Court Martial, over the past few days you have heard two different accounts of what happened on-board the Phoniex.  The prosecutor has retailed you with accounts of a vengeful group of officers, pitted with anger over a lost promotion and blame for the death of a family member.  However, you have heard from those who are closest to these three fine upstanding officers.  You have heard from those who served with these men.  These officers have saved their fellow officers and their ships; have been decorated seventeen times collectively, by Starfleet Command, for bravery and heroism.  However, even with their outstanding records this is a court of law and you are the Trier of Fact.  The judge will soon instruct you that you are to deliberate and decide the guilt and innocence of my client.  He will give you instructions saying that if presented two scenarios of equal possibility then you must believe the scenario that leads to a verdict of not guilty.  You will also be instructed by the judge to vote not guilty if you have a reasonable doubt.  The evidence and expert testimony has shown that it was possible for the chief engineer to disengage the force field from inside the cargo bay.  The chief engineer's authorization code contained the elements of the code that was retrieved from the computer in association with the lowering of the force field.  These men did not commit murder, they did not conspire to commit murder, and as can be seen by their commendations act in the best tradition of Starfleet.  There is only one logical resolution to this case a verdict of Not Guilty."

"Very well. Criminal law is the next topic, and a decently short one for me to instruct".
He placed a listing on the screen.
     (1) The commander is responsible for the administration of Starfleet justice. Commanders must communicate directly with their command or staff judge advocate about matters related to the administration of Starfleet justice.

     (2) Staff and command judge advocates advise commanders on the disposition of suspected violations of the UCSJ, including those committed by enemy prisoners of war; prosecute trials by courts-martial; and supervise the preparation of records of trial.

     (3) The Starfleet Trial Defense Service provides trial defense counsel to represent personnel before courts-martial, adverse administrative boards, and other proceedings as law or regulation requires.

     (4) The Starfleet Trial Judiciary provides judges for general and special courts-martial.

     (5) Appeals of convicted Starfleet accused may be reviewed by the Starfleet Court of Review (SCR), which is part of Starfleet's Judiciary; the Starfleet Court of Appeals; and the Federation Supreme Court. In cases not reviewed by SCR, a convicted accused may submit an application for relief or petition for new trial to The Judge Advocate General. The Starfleet Legal Services Agency provides appellate government and defense counsel in all appellate proceedings.

 "Criminal law with the JAG department involved court marshalls for officers, and restraining of civillian or alien criminals. The JAG department is the after effect when it comes to these criminals. The security of the facility will handle the action of taking the criminal, where the JAG officers restrain them in an imprisonment or holding area for questions, consultation, and following a hearing or trial like setting to determine an ending result".
He took the information from the screen.
"And that is the best I do have for criminal law. I would like to change tones now, and get into talking some and getting these past important topics out into the open".

"I would like to put a scenario in the discussion. Let us say that a commanding officer of a sector at the rank of...perhaps Rear Admiral. This Rear Admiral has ordered one sovereign class vessel, and another sabre class vessel to persue, and capture another ship of an unknown alien culture, which betrayed them in an aggrement of weapons trade. The situation would be determined by a JAG officer. What would your judgement be if you were this JAG officer?".

[Joe Braxton]

*Braxton entered the large classroom and was quite intimidated by it. He guessed he would be the only cadet in this course. He sat in the front row of the room, eagerly awaiting this Captain Westwood, or whatever his name was.*

[Eugene Archer]

=^=Yes, Ma'am. I'll send him over right away. Archer out.=^=

=^=Archer to Braxton. Please go to the Celtic Corner to meet with ensign Kassie. She has an engineering assignment for you. Archer out.=^=

OOC: He will also continue his lessons here, don't worry mr. Eastwood. I just think it's bull #### that he can't be at two places at the same time. I want my cadets to graduate asap, so that they can start on a ship or station.

[Joe Braxton]

*Braxton catches the book*

"Yes, sir, I understand. I will do my best."

*And Braxton left the classroom to go study in his personal quarters*

[Jethro Gibbs]

"I'm understanding fine so far sir."

[Tom Hobson]

"Let us continue. Can each of you give me an example of an Administrative Law proceeding which you would deal with as a JAG Magistrate?".

[Richard Ransom]

pm

[T'mpal]

During the course of my investigation, I interviewed all three suspects separately.  While the major parts of their stories did match up, several details varied in all three stories more than would normally be expected.  Also, according to the computer all three officers were in the same location.  These two facts taken separately may seem meaningless, but looked at together suggest the possibility of conspiracy.  Turning to Starfleet safety regulations, in order for the safety protocol to be disengaged (as it would have to be in order to decompress the shuttle bay) would require the use of higher-level command functions and concurrence of another ranking officer.  With the information presented I would refer all three officers to Court Martial for murder and conspiracy to commit murder.