What happened

Judge McRiley entered the court room and sat down. The room was eerily silent.

"Bailiff, enter the jury, please."

The group arrived in a single file line and filled in the seats. The judge remained quite for a good five minutes after everybody had settled in. He was gathering his strength for this. There was no telling which way the jury had voted. No way to know what they were thinking right now. And he wouldn't know until he called for his answer.

It had to be done. Putting it off would not make things better.

"Miss Forman, have you come to a decision?" He asked.

"We have, your honor." Said a slight blonde woman.

The judge motioned for the slip of paper. It was brought to him, and he read it. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or not. He passed the paper back.

"Please read it for the court."

She nodded. "On the count of malicious harassment we find the defendant guilty." She paused and went on. "On the count of assult, we find the defendant guilty. On the multiple counts of murder, we find the defendant guilty."

"Thank you."

"Sir? We have a recommendation."

"Go ahead."

"Given the light of the situation surrounding these crimes, and what we've seen in this court, we have deemed Jack Napier unfit for the public. We see him as severely mentally ill, and would request the court take that in stride with the sentancing."

"Thank you, Miss Forman, you may sit."

The judge, frankly, felt the same way himself. Jack Napier should not, in any case, ever, be allowed to commune with the populus. It wasn't right. There was too much danger in it, and in him.

"I don't think I need any time to think this over. I am ready for ruling now. Please stand, Jack Napier, and hear your fate." He waited for Jack to stand, and was surprised that there wasn't anything wild or scary going on. "Given the decision of the jury, and their recommendation, and given the state of this entire trial, I have to agree with the idea that you are completely mentally unfit. For anything. I cannot in good conscience send you to prison and hope that you get the help that you need. And that society needs for you. So. My ruling is this: Life imprisonment in Arkham Asylum with a strick rehabilitation program. I have no faith that you'll ever actually get help, but, we can hope."

The gavel banged. It was over.

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Judge McRiley had the world's biggest headache. Between the trial itself and the pending end of it, his head was almost constantly protesting. His body was tense to the point that he thought he'd have to take a week off and fill it with near constant massages in order to relax his muscles.

They were so very close to the end of all of this.

He turned ot the jury and sighed heavily.

"We have heard the closing statements of the lawyers, and I believe that they have both made their cases as best could be done considering the situation at hand. I have decided to strike absolutely none of this from record, so in your deliberations, you are to take every bit of it into account. I want you to all consider long and hard what your decision will be. The results of this case will have effects on many, many people. An entire city, if you will."

He was silent for a moment, and then nodded, as if he'd made a choice. "It's unusual to do, but I'm going to request that there be no hung jury. You will have to make a decision one way or another, and I don't care how long it takes. This will not be dismissed."

McRiley banged the gavel once and stood. The bailiff couldn't do his duty, the judge left so quickly.

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With the opening statements out of the way, the judge took a deep breath and decided to proceed. He knew it wasn't going to go very well, already it had started going badly. Jack Napier was all too glad to be here, and the amount of people who had showed up were only making it worse.

Sensationalism at it's best.

"We will hear from the witnesses. One at a time, please, and no interruptions from the others in the room. Each lawyer will have their time with the witnesses. Please, let's just try to do this in an orderly way."

McRiley sat back in his chair, tired already. Wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

"Mr. Dent, your witness."

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It had begun like any other trial. Smoothly. Calmly. The judge entered and the people silenced. The baliff called for everybody to stand, and they did so, respectably. They sat just as silently, just as calmly when the judge called for them to do so. Judge Scott McRiley presiding...

It was just as the judge was settling in that the first mishap occured.

Jack Napier stood up to introduce himself to the court. And to the audience of people attending. He did so with a flourish and a bout of laughter so nerve-wracking that it took Judge McRiley a good ten minutes to quiet everybody down again.

"That is the last we'll have of that, I hope." He stated, looking Jack directly in the eye as he spoke.

Little did the poor judge know that this was only a pre-cursor to the sorts of things that could go on in a trial like this. A trial against Jack Napier. Maybe the only truly insane genius The City had ever seen. The misguided fellow might actually mistake to think he'd be able to control The Joker.

Jack himself spent a good few moments blowing kisses at Harvey Dent while Judge McRiley tried to call for order and the beginning of the trial.

He looked out at the lawyers and nodded. "Prosecution? You may begin."

And then he sat back, ready to hear this fantastic case.

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and...





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Please let me know if I've missed anyone, or if any other characters would like to participate.

"Oh God! don't send me to th' chair! Don'tcha do it! I won't do it again, I promise! Okay, well. So that's not true.... I did it out of love! Love, don'tcha hear me!"

The sharp crack of the gavel got Jack quiet. The room was filled with a thick impatience.

"Mr. Napier. This is the hearing to decide when your case will go to court. There isn't even a jury here. Your lawyer isn't even present. I would advise you to sit still and just wait."

"Yes, your majesty." Jack grumbled and sank into his seat.

"It has been well advised that you don't get released on your own recognizance, and further advised that you shouldn't be left in anybody else's custody. So you will remain contained until the date of your trial."

Jack stood quickly again. "WHAT!"

Another banging from the judge. "Sit down Mr. Napier. You will remain a charge of the city until your trial. I have decided and I will hear nothing else about it."

Jack grumbled again and sat down heavily. This wasn't really going the way that good ol' Harv had said it would. Where was the sensationalism? Where was the crowd?

There was a long bout of silence and then the judge spoke again. "We will set your court date as June the 10th. It should give both sides plenty of time to gather their information and prepare. I will preside, and we shall get you a jury of your peers."

One bang of the gavel and it was settled.

"Please rise." The bailiff called as the judge himself stood and left the room.

From there, Jack was taken downstairs to a cell. It was one of only four. Generally people were kept at the jail, but this was a special case. Nobody wanted to risk what Jack might do in general population. He was handed a pillow and sheets for his little cot along with a roll of toilet paper, toothbrush and paste. He'd be there a little over a month.