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| Truth by Lindelea | 1 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Miriel | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 9/15/2003 |
| Sigh...surely someone would have thought to have questioned Frodo...or Merry and Pippin. *Crosses fingers* Ferdi and the Thain will work it out...right? Author Reply: Well, they ought to have, but Sam headed that off pretty well when he said that they wouldn't take the knife without asking... and it was a few days ago, so Frodo forgot about loaning it to Merry (I do that all the time), and Merry forgot about borrowing it. You know how when you absent-mindedly lay something down, you might never find it again unless you run across it again later? And if someone else has picked it up, you might never find it again or remember what happened to it... Sorry to say, computer is going in the shop. No updates for a week, unless I can somehow borrow access to a computer or something, but who's going to let me sit and write for an hour or two, or format a chapter and upload it to the internet... and not converse? Only my family puts up with such behaviour. Author Reply: I posted this reply at fanfiction net but don't know if you read there or here, so I'm adding it in here. The way the justice system seemed to work itself out in these stories (I think the first hearing I ever wrote was in “Flames”), the accused has the last word, but is not allowed to speak until the witnesses have finished testifying against him. This fits in with the idea of “guilty until proven innocent”, which would have been the mindset in the Old Country. Since the testimony of more than one witness is required to convict, and it would be unlikely for hobbits to conspire against another hobbit, false charges would not be common in the Shire. Frodo’s case has been carefully crafted by malice and forethought on the part of someone with an axe to grind, even to providing more than one witness to testify against him based upon planted evidence. One exception to this “more than one witness” rule would be if the Thain chose to abuse his power, he could convict someone without due process (see “Flames”, and Paladin unjustly placing Ferdi under the Ban without recourse or appeal), though being a hobbit, this is unlikely. | |