NobleWatch: Baroness Found Innocent!

[DeJaVu]

(South Sutton, Saginaw, Federated Suns, April 3)

In a shocking outcome, Baroness Linda Smallwood was found not guilty of assault and attempted murder. The jury of six men and six women debated for only four hours before returning the verdict.
The trial was conducted over three days, with the prosecution, represented by lead prosecutor Zachary Baines, making the case that the baroness was a selfish woman who had grown to love the trappings and richness of being a noble, and saw the baron’s personal assistant as a threat to that.
The defense was conducted by Jason Pratt-Whitney. He painted the baroness as a woman trapped in a loveless marriage, with a man who had numerous affairs, and refused any thought of a divorce. The reason for this refusal, Pratt-Whitney states, stems from the fact that sixty percent of the current Smallwood fortune is from the baroness’ family, the Diebolds. A pre-nuptial agreement states that any divorce would mean the Smallwood family would forfeit the sixty percent. He also stated that, as a champion swordswoman, had she really wanted to kill either one, she wouldn’t have still been chasing them when the police arrived.
When the jury returned the verdict, Baron Baldwin Smallwood stormed out of the courtroom in a towering rage. Outside the courthouse, he told waiting reporters, “This was a farce, created by that woman and her greed!” He went on to say, “I wonder how much that jury was paid to ignore the facts!” He was hustled away by his lawyer before he could say anything else. The baroness and her party left by a side exit and avoided the reporters. According to reports, the baroness plans to proceed with divorce procedures.
NobleWatch will keep you appraised of this matter as events warrant it.
NobleWatch is an in-character holovid news program, and may not represent canon events in the BattleTech universe. Any contradictions with existing sourcebooks should be ignored.