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Table of Contents
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In order to keep the story as close to canon as possible, I used the following resources listed with an abbreviation (which will be used in the following text): The Star Trek Encyclopedia by Michael and Denise Okuda, 2016 (STE); Star Trek Concordance by Bjo Trimble, 1976 (STC); Star Trek Voyager Companion by Paul Ruditis, 2003 (STV); Eaglemoss Star Trek issue number 28 - Maquis Raider, 2014 (STM).
The exact accounting of the Voyager crew is a difficult task at best. STE states that the crew consisted of 141 members in early 2371. That number increased to 152 later in the same year. Specifics of the crew make-up were somewhat sketchy, but I found help in the STV. It gives an accounting of crew members in a breakout form, listing those who were in Starfleet, Maquis, the Equinox crew and those with unknown affiliation. Those total 126 which means 26 are unaccounted for. And with the group classified as unknown affiliation, even more crewpersons remain unknown as far as who they are exactly. This made it very difficult to determine how many Maquis there really were.
So I started from the other side. How many were aboard the Maquis ship Valjean? STE has no definitive number, so I tried another source, Eaglemoss. While not exactly canon as such, they do have access to a lot of official resources. They list the Maquis ship with a crew of approximately thirty.
Because of what I found there, I chose to give the Valjean a crew of thirty-two. That gave me a starting point for my legal case concerning the Maquis. In section 10 of Tom and Tom Again, I did a breakdown as follows: From a crew of 32, 24 survived the encounter with the Caretaker, Valjean's destruction and so on. Another six crewpersons were lost while serving on Voyager, minus the two who weren't in Starfleet previously and the four that decide not to remain in Starfleet. That gives us the final number of twelve defendants.
The make-up and functioning of the various court room settings came from several sources in the Star Trek universe and one outside source. I started with a list of all the episodes that had courtroom settings or the resolving of legal issues. Comparing the various episodes, I noticed a difference regarding procedures in all the episodes, regardless of when they were produced or the timeframe of the series. Some of the dramas were more formal than others and, because of this, I decided to do a blend of settings and procedures as well.
To illustrate this I have a list of episode summaries concerning legal issues, starting with The Original Series.
- "Menagerie Part 1 & Part 2" - A court martial is called with senior officers; Kirk, Pike and Mendez presiding. It's a closed session with only the board and Spock in attendance. Eventually Spock is found guilty but the verdict is set aside as Mendez suspends the general order that restricts visiting Talos IV. Procedurals noted were no swearing in, no gavels, no bell ringing, no computer verification of testimony or personal identification. The courtroom setting takes place on the Enterprise but scenes take place at various places in a series of flashbacks.
- "Court Martial" - The story starts with an inquiry by Commodore Stone but Kirk demands a court martial to clear his name. Lt. Areel Shaw, a lawyer in the Judge Advocate's office is council for prosecution while Samuel T. Cogley, a civilian, is the defense lawyer. Stone is now president of the court with three other members; Starbase Administrator Lindstrom, Captain Kransnowsky and Captain Chandra. Incidentals include ringing ship's bell to start session, witnesses provide data tape and computer verifies identity but no verification of truth. The episode takes place on Starbase 11 and Enterprise.
- "Turnabout Intruder" - Dr. Janice Lester switches with Kirk; her consciousness in his body and vice versa. Spock's meld confirms the switch but says that a meld is not proof. Hearing is convened to consider Spock's court martial for mutiny as he helped Lester (Kirk) to escape. Kirk (Lester) heads hearing with Scotty and McCoy. There's not much in the way of a normal hearing as things deteriorate rapidly. Kirk (Lester) begins a mental breakdown and the switch reverses itself. Regular court procedures are non-existent and the story is set aboard Enterprise.
- "Mudd's Women" - This is the first of three episodes with minor sequences involving hearings and such. At the very beginning, Kirk conducts a ship's hearing with Spock, Scott, McCoy and Farell concerning Harry Mudd. It's a very short sequence and the computer verifies testimony and Kirk declares Harry Mudd guilty of all charges and the hearing takes place on Enterprise.
- "Space Seed" - This is an even shorter sequence occurring in the in the last scene of the episode. Kirk sounds the bell to start the hearing, then he, Spock, McCoy and Scott serve on a review board. Kirk declares Khan and Lt. McGivers guilty but sets aside his own verdict and 'maroons' them, along with the other 'supermen and women' on Ceti Alpha V. Otherwise there was very little in the way of court procedures and the hearing takes place on the Enterprise.
- "Wolf in the Fold" - Last of the original series 'legal episodes' is more of an investigation than a court procedure, but has elements of both. It centers on whether Scotty is guilty of three murders on Argelius II. A psycotricorder is used but the results are never revealed. Eventually the investigation is moved to Enterprise to use computers for verifying testimony and identification of each person. Kirk calls the process an accuracy scan. The scenes take place on Argelius II and Enterprise.
That gives TOS six episodes of various legal issues, far surpassing all other series even though it was only on for three seasons.
Next Generation, by comparison, had only three episodes in seven years.
- "Measure of a Man" - The story is the most formal of the three but it's a hearing and not a court martial. It consists of Captain Phillipa Louvois of the JAG office acting as judge, Picard as defense and Riker as prosecutor. Only two witnesses are called, Data and Commander Bruce Maddox. It's a milestone episode to determine whether Data has rights as a sentient life form. They only use the verifier to confirm identity and not truth. No other procedures are noted and the story is divided between Starbase 173 and Enterprise.
- "Drumhead" - Starts out as a hearing, not a court martial, conducted by Admiral Satie. Picard calls it an inquiry and there is no swearing in or other formal procedures. Picard calls into question use of evidence obtained by an empath who is part of Admiral Satie's team. Eventually the inquiry falls apart due to Satie's emotional collapse and, ultimately, by the order of Admiral Thomas Henry. The entire story takes place on the Enterprise.
- "Matter of Perspective" - This is actually a civilian hearing conducted on Enterprise in agreement with Tanugan investigator Krag. It's an extradition case concerning Riker. In this instance, they use holodeck simulations/re-creations as testimony to resolve the case. There are no formalities, no swearing in, and no verification of identity. The story was divided between a research station and Enterprise.
Voyager had but two hearings with no formalities of swearing in or verification of testimony or identity.
- "Death Wish" - This is a hearing to allow Quinn to commit suicide which is being challenged by Q. Janeway is acting judge with Tuvok as defense and Q as prosecutor. There are no formalities to speak of.
- "Author, Author" - The story presents a very short legal session with a Federation arbitrator to determine the rights of the EMH as an author. Tuvok, again, acts as defense for the EMH. Testimony is presented by several Voyager crewpersons. The arbitrator does not rule on the EMH as a sentient being but does grant him rights to his holonovel. The legal aspects take place on Voyager with a visual link to Earth.
Deep Space Nine had only one episode concerning a courtroom setting in the Federation.
- "Rules of Engagement" - This is another extradition hearing and not a court martial. Admiral T'Lary is the Starfleet judge who will determine whether Worf will be extradited to the Klingon home world. T'Lary rings the bell to start session but there is no swearing in, no verifier and the session is fairly informal except for occasional objections and such. The courtroom drama takes place on Deep Space Nine.
- "Dax" is legal case regarding whether a Trill can be held accountable for crimes committed by a past host. It also occurs on Deep Space Nine but is run by a Bajoran arbiter. It has little bearing on Starfleet legal procedures.
- "Tribunal" takes place entirely on Cardassia and so has little bearing on Federation cases.
Enterprise has no cases other than one that takes place on the Klingon home world.
- "Judgement" - It's very similar to DS9's "Tribunal" and even more so to the situation seen in Star Trek VI, including a sentence on Rura Penthe.
The only outside source I used was from the book The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk. There is a courtroom scene which illustrates 'proper' courtroom procedures for a naval court martial. After reading that novel I decided not to use it as a source as it was 200 years 'out of date' with Starfleet. After all, things have changed over 200 years here on Earth. However, it did give me some correct nomenclature.
In the end, I decided to use a combination of settings for the various trials, and since each one was different, they would all have their own protocols. Therefore, Tom's hearing consisted of three magistrates from different agencies, mostly civilian, and no formal protocols to speak of. Tom's fitness hearing is conducted by Starfleet, again in a more informal manner but consisting of seven members. Logically, all are high-ranking Starfleet officers.
For the Maquis hearing, I used a three-member board of review, also made up of Starfleet officers but lower-ranking. This time though, just for something different, I included the use of a traditional judge's gavel, a minor point of procedurals.
Lastly, the court martial convened for the Equinox crew uses the traditional bell to commence and end court sessions.
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© 2024 Brad McDonald / U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
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