#retrial

Kyubey (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Joan's Justice

On this day, July 7, 1456, a retrial verdict acquitted Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after being condemned and executed. To mark this anniversary, we are showing The Broken Soldier and the Maid of France by Henry Van Dyke with illustrations by Frank E. Schoonover. This edition was published in 1919 by Harper & Brothers Publishers in New York. The short novel tells the tale of a disheartened French soldier fleeing and suffering from shellshock. He encounters the spirit of Joan of Arc, who inspires him to find courage and purpose in the fight for his homeland. 

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) was an American author, educator, clergyman, and diplomat. A professor of English at Princeton University and a U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands under President Woodrow Wilson, Van Dyke was known for his essays, poems, and inspirational fiction.

Frank E. Schoonover (1877-1972) was an American illustrator and a student of Howard Pyle, often associated with the Brandywine School. Over his long career he created over 3,000 illustrations, including science fiction art for author Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Interesting fact: Joan of Arc's birth name is uncertain because of inconsistent record keeping and varying customs at the time.

Her retrial reminds us how history can be rewritten and how stories of courage endure beyond their time.

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Fic: Retrial by phoenixgal

Rating: T

Genre: AU - modern setting, non-magical, mystery, crime.

Word count: 23,410 words, 12 chapters, complete.

Summary: “Remus Lupin, host of the popular podcast Retrial, decides to focus on the case of Sirius Black, a man convicted of murdering his high school best friend, for his upcoming season. Remus has gotten too close to his subjects in the past, so he promises himself that won't happen this time.”

Major CW: Crime, murder, discussions of incarceration, non-graphic discussions of sexual violence.

Mod Theo thoughts: This fic was recommended to me recently, and I may have ever so slightly neglected my work duties to read it. In this fic - based loosely on the popular American podcast Serial - Remus is the queer, Latino podcast host charged with telling the story of the murder of Lily and James Potter thirteen years prior, and getting to the bottom of whether or not the convicted killer - presently incarcerated Sirius Black - is perhaps actually innocent. If you don’t like true crime, you probably won’t like this, but if you do, what could be better?? My only complaint was that this fic wasn’t longer. The representation here is subtle but well done, finding little ways to explore Remus’s heritage, the importance of his interactions with fellow Latinx community, and his background as the child of an incarcerated father. The author uses creative and diverse means of storytelling and somehow manages to keep you guessing about whether or not Sirius Black is innocent right until the end. 

Billie-Jo Margaret Jenkins was a 13-year-old British girl. She was brought up in East London however when she was 9-years-old her father was imprisoned her mother was unable to cope with her care and placed her in foster care. Billie-Jo was fostered by Siôn and Lois Jenkins, who coincidentally shared her surname. She moved with her foster family to Hastings, East Sussex.

On 15th February 1997, Billie-Jo's body was found in the back garden of the family home in Hastings. She had been beaten with an 18-inch metal tent peg while painting the patio doors alone. The rest of the family were reportedly not at the property at the time. Billie's foster father, Siôn Jenkins, told police he had found her in a pool of blood after returning from a shopping trip.

Police grew suspicious of Siôn Jenkins and he was named a suspect. Erratic behaviour and 158 microscopic blood spots on his clothing soon led officers to arrest him for Billie-Jo's murder. He was tried and convicted on 2nd July 1998. His sentence was life imprisonment.

An appeal plea for Siôn Jenkins failed in 1998 but in 2004 the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial and released him on bail. At the retrial, forensic scientists stated the blood spray could have been released from Billie-Jo's airway when he moved her body. A jury was unable to reach a majority verdict after 39 hours of deliberation. On 9th February 2006, Siôn Jenkins was declared not guilty and acquitted.

Prosecutors in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial will present the jury with the disgraced comedian’s 2005 testimony about giving quaaludes to women after a judge ruled it admissible on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

In the testimony, Cosby admitted under oath that he obtained a prescription for the now-illegal drug in the 1970s and gave it to women he wanted to have sex with.

Judge Steven O’Neill’s decision to admit the testimony represents a win for prosecutors, who are attempting to portray Cosby as a habitual abuser in the criminal case brought by former Temple University basketball coach Andrea Constand. It also means that jurors will hear the same admissions as in the original trial ― but this time, paired with testimony from five other accusers.

O’Neill ruled in March that the five additional accusers could testify in court because their claims closely match Constand’s. Only one other accuser, Kelly Johnson, who worked for Cosby’s agent, was permitted to give testimony the first time around.

Constand says Cosby, now 80, drugged and sexually assaulted her at his Philadelphia home in 2004. He faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault.

On Tuesday, the new jury began hearing Cosby’s account of what happened with Constand, which also came from his 2005 testimony. According to Cosby, he gave Constand cold and allergy medicine at his home to help her relax before touching her sexually. The entertainer said Constand did not object to being touched, and his lawyers say there is no evidence that he gave Constand quaaludes instead of over-the-counter medicine.

Johnson won’t take the stand again in the retrial. Instead, prosecutors will try to corroborate Constand’s experience with testimony from former bartender Janice Baker-Kinney and former models Heidi Thomas, Chelan Lasha, Lise-Lotte Lublin and Janice Dickinson.

Cosby’s 2005 testimony originated from Constand’s civil suit against the comedian, brought about a year after the alleged assault. That case was settled for around $3.4 million and the testimony sealed ― until a judge unsealed it in 2015. Authorities then filed charges against Cosby late that year.

A hung jury resulted in a mistrial last June.

Shayna Hubers (21) and Ryan Poston (29) were in a toxic on-again, off-again relationship that turned deadly on the evening of October 12th, 2012. Prior to that night, Ryan was working as an attorney in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky and Shayna was a recent graduate of the University of Kentucky. The two had been dating off-and-on for approximately a year and a half. 

Friends of Ryan say that he had tried to end his relationship with Shayna on numerous occasions, and that Shayna simply would not accept the breakup. When Shayna’s texts and phone calls went unanswered, she would show up at Ryan’s condo unannounced. She would refuse to leave when asked. Ryan’s friends and family expressed their concerns over his relationship with Shayna many times, and he would always reassure them that he would finally end their relationship for good. Despite this, though, Ryan and Shayna always seemed to come back to each other.

On October 11th, 2012, Ryan and Shayna had dinner at Ryan’s parent’s home and then returned to Ryan’s condo to spend the night. Once they returned to the condo, the two got into an explosive argument. While this was pretty common occurrence for the two of them, Ryan truly seemed like he wanted to move on after that. In fact, he had made plans for a date with a former Miss Ohio for the following night. 

Shayna, however, was still not ready to let Ryan go. She once again showed up unannounced at Ryan’s condo on the night of October 12th. An argument ensued, and at some point, Shayna got ahold of one of Ryan’s handguns and shot him 6 times, killing him. Shayna called 911 ten to fifteen minutes later and said that she had just killed her boyfriend in self-defense.