A modern day request for trial by combat.

[Walkaboutout]

For those of you willing to read the brief (page 9 of the document in question, if you want to jump to the specific request statement) at the below link, it's an actual legal filing requesting trial by personal combat. With a brief history of the practice to show precedent no less!

https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=baNbN9lJUgJh_PLUS_VQ9ZDKUfw==

 

[Kagernaut]

Wow lol, that is awesome. I need to find out how this turned out....although, if there actually WAS trial by combat, I think I would have heard.

That whole document is hilarious though, like how he refers to the plaintiff's entire lawsuit as a Comic Book lol.

 

[Walkaboutout]

I knew folks here would appreciate that!

 

[StarSword]

The War focus does say the duel action can be used against "foes", which you'd think meant you could duel opposing rulers. But it seems to only work with Rival characters.

 

[FraterPsychonaut]

Yeah this is a known American legal quirk, as the UK didn't outlaw trial by combat until quite recently so technically by US common law and the 9th amendment it should be valid, I hope they don't lose this case on this and set precedent. I was hoping to have this in my back pocket for some future legal trouble I may run into connected with my political activity... (I'd love to publicly and legally challenge some obnoxious blow-hard politician/public-figure to a highly satisfying fistfight, heck maybe beat the stuffing out of all of them.)

 

[DreadLindwyrm]

The problem - and one of the reasons Britain banned trial by combat - is that you can have an assault case, and the defendant requests trial by combat against the person they (allegedly) already beat up once. You also potentially have absolutely perfect legal cases being rendered irrelevant by the trial by combat, which ultimately doesn't rely on guilt or innocence, just who is better at fighting. I can imagine the problems if (for example) a violent multiple murderer, caught after being seen by witnesses to do the dirty deed, and arrested whilst trying to dispose of the weapon used were to use trial by combat to escape punishment.

It has no proper place in modern jurisprudence, much like any punishment that results in maiming or death of the convicted, as sometimes you get false convictions, and it's really difficult to apologise to a dead guy...

 

[FraterPsychonaut]

I was thinking more for a civil case, even under current rules of civil procedure it'd still need to be accepted by the other party before it'd proceed like a bench trial or binding arbitration... And in the US for criminal proceedings the other party is the state not the individual. (Hence a current case in one of the Carolinas where a prosecutor is going after a teacher who seduced and married a student even though the student obviously isn't making a complaint.) I'd be highly inadvisable for a citizen to claim this right against the state because the state has access to the militia (which legally includes every able bodied citizen = the justification for the draft) and could just ask Chuck Norris / (insert any american who can put you down with their pinky) to do be their champion. I really don't see the problem here, the violent murderer type would almost certainly be defeated vs the government's champion and probably die saving on prison costs for someone who obviously would not be interested in redemption/reformation, but regardless it would be only applicable to civil cases due to a conflict with the 5th amendment. If folks suing each other want to duke it out to settle the issue, I'm inclined to let them, and a dead loser's trouble's are over.