Illegal Alien

"Ready, Your Honor," said Linda Ziegler.

"Ready, Your Honor," said Dale Rice. As was his tradition on the first day of trial, he was wearing an absolutely pristine white silk tie; he wouldn’t get to speak, except for objections, until after the prosecution’s opening statement, but he wanted to send a message of innocence to jury in those crucial first moments.

"You may begin, Ms. Ziegler," said Pringle.

Ziegler got up from the prosecution table and came over to stand in front of the jury box. She was wearing a navy-blue jacket over a white blouse.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, as you know from voir dire, my name is Linda Ziegler, and I’m a senior deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County. My associate in this case is Trina Diamond; you’ll hear from her later in the trial. You don’t need me to tell you that this is an unusual case.

The defendant in this trial is not a human being. Rather, he is an alien, an estraterrestrial, an entity from another world. We’re all sophisticated people, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve all been around. But, still, I know from the discussions during voir dire that you are like me. You might have believed that life on other worlds was theoretically possible — we live in a big universe, after all, and it seemed unlikely, if we stopped to think about it, that this one tiny planet orbiting an unremarkable star, might be the only home of life in all of creation — but you never thought that the question would be anything more than the subject of documentaries on The Learning Channel, or shows like the decedent’s Great Balls of Fire!

"But all that’s changed in the last few months, hasn’t it? Aliens have come to Earth! As a species, we rose remarkably well to this event. Perhaps remembering all of our own botched encounters between formerly isolated peoples on this world, we managed to deal with the arrival of the starship in a civilized manner.

"And, you know, it was wonderful to meet the Tosok aliens, wasn’t it? We extended the hand of friendship to these new arrivals.

"But things did not stay wonderful for long, ladies and gentleman, and that’s why you’re here today. Dr. Cletus Calhoun was — there’s no other word for it, is there? — was butchered, his body carved up, his organs scattered about. I see some of you wincing, and I do regret, dear people, that we will have to dwell on the details of this grisly crime during the course of the trial.

"As you know, Hask, one of the seven Tosoks who have come to Earth, has been charged in the death of Dr. Calhoun. Ms. Diamond and I, on behalf of the People of California, will demonstrate to you, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Hask did, willfully, knowing full well what he was doing, murder Dr. Calhoun. We are seeking a conviction on the charge of first-degree murder. To substantiate such a charge, we have to demonstrate that the method was within the reach of the defendant — and it was, and we shall prove that to you, beyond all reasonable doubt. And, because we are seeking a first-degree conviction, we must also demonstrate that this crime was no spontaneous act of self-defense, nor a momentary lapse into unthinking rage, but rather was premeditated, was contemplated in advance, was planned by the defendant, and carried out — indeed, was executed — with purposeful deliberation — and this, too, we shall prove to you, beyond all reasonable doubt…"

Eventually, it was Dale’s turn. He rose slowly and crossed in front of the prosecution’s table as he made his way over to stand in front of the jury box. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "my name, as you may recall, is Dale Rice, and I’m representing the defendant, Hask. My co-counsel is Ms. Michiko Katayama.

"Now, I bet all of you have seen Perry Mason, but I don’t want you to have any unrealistic ideas about what a defense attorney does. Good ol’ Perry, he used to browbeat everyone on the witness stand until someone other than the defendant confessed. Well, that’s unlikely to happen in this trial.

The State has accused my client of murder, but as the judge will instruct you, the simple fact that he’s been accused is not to be taken at all as evidence of guilt. My client has pleaded innocent. And you must understand that he has no obligation — absolutely none — to prove his innocence.