Taijitu v. Govindia

[Allama]

Additionally, Govindia - you need not petition upwards of 3 times for the same thing.  We read it the first time and will make our decision whether to consider evidence of a sensitive nature once we have seen it.

What, may I ask, will happen to the evidence if it is considered to be of a sensitive nature?

We know it to be of a sensitive nature already, but must determine to what level and what be the proper course of action once we have seen it.

[PoD Gunner]

Your Honors,

I am sorry if it looks like I am displaying an exaggerated sensitivity over this. I need notbe told what I am supposed to get affected by and what not, please do not forget that detail. I have not been called a liar in my entire NS career, only to have a defense counsel who also happens to be a Senator of my home region call me one. I am afraid I must maintain my previous position and demand a public apology before I respond to any other interpolations from the defense. Not one of my comments has addressed directly any of the two counsels and I have not resorted to calling the counsels liars or anything of the kind, I consider such actions below my dignity and for me there is a limit to what I would be prepared to do as Prosecutor when competing against two fellow Taijituans. I can understand the passion of youth, but that insult I will not stand for.

Also, besides the rest of the evidence which will reach only Your Honors via PM, also because, doing otherwise would allow the defendant access to sensitive Intel gathering procedure, the Prosecutions can see no use for further statements. If the testimonies of the feederite delegates who have told us about who the defendant really is and that are known to the NS world as reliable persons, the statements of famous Taijituans such as Korinn, Flemingovia or Meridianland or of our own root administration represent nothing in this case, we believe that putting random statements of random players or regions in this equation are merely a waste of time, although a contest we would easily win, but still a childish endeavor.
 
If the Judges are going to stand by and watch the representative of the Taijitu Government be called a liar in his face, then the Prosecution has no choice but to remain silent, so as not to risk being called even worse while nobody would see any reason to retract what was said.

Thank You.

[Templarios]

If it is an apology you want from me, i am deeply sorry for any upset i have caused you. If i have called you a liar, it was only by my carelessness and not through any malice of mine towards you. As will happen in any court case, the defense and prosecution have different views of the evidence we both put before us and there will always be disagreement over that. But being civil is the way forward. As i have sig:

*Disclaimer*
In my above post, I did not intend to offend or upset anyone. If you were so, I deeply apologies.

Now are we able to move on with the business in hand?

[Govindia]

Also, besides the rest of the evidence which will reach only Your Honors via PM, also because, doing otherwise would allow the defendant access to sensitive Intel gathering procedure,

The prosecution must show us this evidence as well if there is to be any real claim of a fair trial, otherwise, that evidence must be inadmissible from the court.  To deny the defence equall access to evidence would nullify the notion that this trial is fair because the prosecution deliberately withheld evidence from us.

[PoD Gunner]

Templarios, that is most noble of you. I would ask you to actually read my posts. I have clearly stated that I will not tolerate the things that your esteemed colleague has allowed himself to say in my face and I am not doing this to humiliate anybody or stall this trial. If this is the kind of behavior that a Taijituan Senator is ready to display before a colleague representing the Government, I cannot be a part of this trial any longer, as far as also the Judges find it a normal thing. That is all.

Now are we able to move on with the business in hand?

Please do not make this any worse than it already is.

Before I forget: your client has planted these seeds in our region. We are harvesting his crops at the moment. Cheers.

[The G Rebellion]

The evidence will be presented to the justices. If we decide that it is necessary for the defense to see, it is our choice. And please, would people refrain from telling the court what "must" happen. It is the decision of the justices, as always what evidence is valid and what is not.

[Osamafune]

I have not been called a liar in my entire NS career, only to have a defense counsel who also happens to be a Senator of my home region call me one. I am afraid I must maintain my previous position and demand a public apology before I respond to any other interpolations from the defense.

You either manipulated a previous testimony to say what you wanted it to say, or you simply misread the post because what you said was completely and utterly false. If it was the latter, that you only misread the post which everybody has done at one point or another, then an apology would be in order. Now if what you said was indeed true, and that you neither manipulated or misread the testimonies, we expect evidence to support the claim since you have given none and everything else we presented proves otherwise.

The evidence will be presented to the justices. If we decide that it is necessary for the defense to see, it is our choice. And please, would people refrain from telling the court what "must" happen. It is the decision of the justices, as always what evidence is valid and what is not.

Your honor, the defense apologizes for telling the court what it must do. However, we do stand by our position that for this to be a fair trial, that the evidence must be presented. That's not to say the court has to present it, but if the prosecution and court can see evidence that the defense cannot, it is impossible for this to be a fair trial. It goes back to what I have said before the trial started, and before Flemingovia gave a real reason for Govindia being restricted: If the defense does not know what we are being charged with, how are we supposed to put up a defense? Likewise, if we do not know what evidence is being presented against us, how are we supposed to put up a defense?

The defense apologizes if we are beginning to sound like a broken record, but if the court deems it as important evidence and allows it to be used in the trial, we request that we have access to it, or otherwise disregarded.

[Zimmerwald]

This is a moot point, as the Court has not seen the evidence mentioned at all.

[Osamafune]

Honourable Justices,


This is a witness statement from Thel D'Ran of Lemuria, a very well respected NSer who frequents the #taijitu IRC channel, and other regional IRC channels as well.

On behalf of Govindia, I am writing to facilitate the proceedings in Taijitu. It is unusual for me to interfere in the politics of another region but I do this upon request.

Govindia is the victim of his own reputation, which — I truly believe — he hopes to ameliorate. Two significant factors stand in the way of his turning over a new leaf. The first is, of course, that same reputation. On that matter, there can be no dispute that it was earned by behavior and — perhaps — some degree of misunderstanding.

In my view, the second factor is a certain lack of forgiveness for and trust in Govindia that he does wish to make amends and begin a new era in the region(s) that have rejected him. As an outsider, I've a certain amount of luxury to make the claim that I believe him — but there it is.

I do not suggest that someone or group of persons have the role of "social guide" imposed upon them. Such an occupation can only be assumed and not imposed. Govindia will be, in fact, the chief of any such guide. The community's responsibility is to point out when he's "adding fuel to an existing fire" and ask him to stop. In addition, the community has every right to remind him (and other participants) when civility and mores are being abused. In essence, this is the part of the foundation of any social contract.

My player that made the request that I write this message is suffering a certain level of angst on this matter that's spawned by his confusion. If the Taijitu people do decide against him, please — at least — offer a full explanation.

Yours sincerely,

Thel D'Ran of Lemuria

As your honours have read, we can all clearly see that, as we have been saying, it is a big mis-understanding on both sides. We do accept that my client does have a bit of a reputation, as previous testimonies from Feudal Japan has already pointed out, but who of us doesn't for one thing or another? But he is a reformed character as this quote shows: "his turning over a new leaf" as he has tried to do before this whole mess started.  Thel has known my client for quite some time and has understood the difficulties he has gone through, and has witnessed some of the treatment others have given him, especially where Meri has called my client a Hindu phony for not remembering specific aspects of his own religion.  Not everyone is an expert on their own faith, for those who hold a belief in a spiritual entity.

We have another testimony we would like to present at this time from a respected and very active Taijituan citizen.

(2007-12-19 05:20:41) Osafune: So to start things off, please state your forum name and UN nation.
(2007-12-19 05:22:43) Delfos: My forum name is Delfos, my UN nation is New Delfos. I am a member of both Taijitu region, the forum.Taijitu.org, and I'm myself a qualified Citizen of Taijitu.
(2007-12-19 05:23:19) Govindia: Have you held any other positions in Taijitu?
(2007-12-19 05:23:37) Delfos: never
(2007-12-19 05:26:07) Osafune: Sorry about the pause. As I said, I'm currently at work.
(2007-12-19 05:26:37) Delfos: sure, no problem
(2007-12-19 05:27:05) Osafune: Delfos, can you please give a description of Govindia's character?
(2007-12-19 05:30:40) Delfos: Govinda as I know, I have never witnessed any offense or unusual behavior, Govinda is certainly qualified for Citizen and I've never seen any problem with his character that would provoke discrimination or even a trial.
(2007-12-19 05:31:17) Govindia: could you elaborate please?
(2007-12-19 05:33:46) Delfos: I have never wtinessed any offensive or unusual behavior, or any problem with Govindia's character that would provoke judgment against his membership, citizenship or his right to access the Role Play section.
(2007-12-19 05:35:14) Delfos: Govindia is a random person, and he's exactly as any other member of Taijitu
(2007-12-19 05:38:46) Osafune: "Discrimination"? Perhaps you could elaborate more on that as well.
(2007-12-19 05:40:18) Delfos: Well, I recall he was banned from Role Play section and from the forums without plausible justification or notice, among other discriminations like denying his right to post.
(2007-12-19 05:40:56) Osafune: This was before the trial, correct?
(2007-12-19 05:42:10) Delfos: That is correct, and even after the trial started I witnessed flaming and accusations outside the Court's topic about Govindia's trial.
(2007-12-19 05:44:00) Osafune: So how would you summarize everything so far? Gov's banning/restriction, the trial, etc...
(2007-12-19 05:47:37) Delfos: Well, my concern is that if they can do all this to Govindia without any justification or notice, they can do it to anybody, and I've witnessed other kinds of discrimination similar to what happened to Govindia and people getting banned or forced to leave Taijitu without any good justification, and without informing the Taijitu Community about the reason of such actions.
(2007-12-19 05:48:14) Govindia: Could you elaborate on this, and if possible, provide examples?
(2007-12-19 05:48:55) Delfos: I don't think I need to present examples, but names, let me recall them...the first that comes in mind beyond Govinda is Geradin
(2007-12-19 05:49:01) Delfos: *Govindia
(2007-12-19 05:56:51) Delfos: Well there is a name I cannot remember, that some members started to bully and forced him to leave. I want to present a recent case against Barakarin, trying to prevent the abuse, although messing with his account and achievements, such as post count, and also preventing him to defend himself and have his word by locking topics and the sort.
(2007-12-19 05:57:41) Delfos: This as being the worse cases, I could exhaustivly list several other cases, even involving myself
(2007-12-19 05:58:08) Govindia: Could you explain the case with yourself, and with Geradin, for the purposes of this testimony if we may ask?
(2007-12-19 06:02:39) Delfos: Well the purpose is to make sure the image of the forum administration and other administrative entities are seen. They ignore the rights of members, they do not defend their citizenship rights, and they also get involved in discrimination and the abuse of rights. I'm flamed allot or accused, well not so often latly, but the administration did nothing to prevent it from happening,
(2007-12-19 06:03:21) Delfos: also supported those involved in flaming accusations instead of defend each other's right or stopping the abuse of rights
(2007-12-19 06:04:40) Govindia: Why do you think they do that? Is Taijitu not supposed to be a friendly and respectful community to everyone who arrives?
(2007-12-19 06:08:50) Delfos: I think they established a solid hierarchy and favor some members over others, new members are welcome but whatever they defend is flamed, if their view of the world isn't the same as this group. I already confronted one of the Mafial-style lord about his power, he said he didn't know he had such power. They exerce their functions without knowing their duties or limits, without respt...
(2007-12-19 06:11:18) Delfos: without respecting membership/citizenship rights, and the other administrative entities normally do not do anything to stop or reserve any abuse.
I have the information that Myroria removed the ban on Gonvindia because it was inconstitutional, I must say that was quite rare interveinance of one administrator, which I must highlight positivly.
(2007-12-19 06:12:07) Govindia: Do you have any thoughts on the claims made by Prosecutor GMT that I am a security threat to Taijitu?
(2007-12-19 06:16:28) Delfos: I do, I don't see any threat to the security of Taijitu, as stated above, I see Govindia as a rightful member of the Taijitu community and no action from him suggests any breach of security of Taijitu. And I believe Govindia haven't committed anything against Taijitu, there should be no punishment.
(2007-12-19 06:18:23) Govindia: Do you have any thoughts on the character witness testimony that has been provided so far for this trial?
(2007-12-19 06:23:54) Delfos: I think some are misplaced and can't be judged without context, I also think some of the testimonies that didn't happened in the forum are doubtful or forged, but that's not for me to judge, and other from those, I can't formulate any thought on the content of such testimonies, I respect them as opinions, as most of them are, and not as conclusive evidence.
(2007-12-19 06:25:40) Govindia: You are planning to write a deposition still, yes?
(2007-12-19 06:27:32) Delfos: Yes, I've already wrote a deposition, basically saying everything I've said here.
(2007-12-19 06:27:51) Govindia: Would you still like to submit it ?
(2007-12-19 06:28:16) Delfos: Yes, where should I submit it?
(2007-12-19 06:28:54) Govindia: PM it to Osafune on the forum, and please e-mail me at gramabadran@gmail.com, as I cannot view PMs through the forum, nor send any.
(2007-12-19 06:32:22) Delfos: Are we done here?
(2007-12-19 06:33:20) Govindia: I have no further questions. Osafune may, I do not know. If you need to be elsewhere, I thank you for your time. If Osafune needs to ask you further questions, will you be willing to answer outside of this chat?
(2007-12-19 06:33:40) Delfos: Sure
(2007-12-19 06:34:14) Govindia: ok
(2007-12-19 06:34:35) Govindia: Thank you Delfos, for your time.
(2007-12-19 06:35:52) Delfos: No problem

First, it should be noted that as Delfos has said, has never held a leadership position in Taijitu. It is highly doubtful that he ever will attempt to. He has no reason to lie.

Most of his testimony virtually speaks for itself: He has not witnessed anything bad or harmful coming from the defendant. On the other hand, he has witnessed discrimination and abuse against the defendant, which as Delfos says is nothing new.

The defense admitts that there may be a problem with this testimony; that being that he does not frequent IRC very often. Any event that may have went on in IRC may be unknown to him. This does not change his testimony however; he still has not witnessed any abuses coming from Govindia and does not see him as a security threat. He HAS witnessed abuses against Govindia.

It is still the position of the defense that most of the statements made by Govindia that ultimately arose to many of these charges are simply exaggerations and/or misunderstandings, a result partially from the frustration experienced by Govindia. Please notice PoD_Gunner's reaction to being called a "liar." What if people were continually calling you a liar, insulting you, and discriminating against you based on a "bad reputation" received in another region? Undoubtedly, any arguments between Govindia and any other citizen were inflamed by this.

Let me say something else: Govindia's fate in this trial should not relate directly to any crime committed in any other region. Such a thing would be like Canada trying me for a murder committed against an American citizen in the United States. That would not make much sense, would it? I'm not saying that the prosecution does not have a right to bring up such events that may have happened, but for the Court to take care when making their decision after seeing these unproven events presented towards them. Undoubtedly, a history of past events could hint towards the likelihood of someone committing the same crimes in Taijitu. It does not prove that they will happen though.

When looking at the charges, harassment, and arguments between any two or more people, it is often worth looking into the history of all sides. Case-in-point: Meridianland. As previously stated, she has an extreme bias towards "fendas" and does not trust them. Since Govindia is a defender, there was obviously a lack of trust between the two, hence he did not want to reveal any information to her that can be used against him, as she is an active member of DEN.  It should also be noted that Limi is a member of Lone Wolves United, another raider region .

What I'm trying to say is, not all of the charges you are trying to slap onto the defendant may have been caused by the defendant alone, but a myriad of circumstances.

Now, to address a few other things:

we believe that putting random statements of random players or regions in this equation are merely a waste of time

There was nothing "random" about any of the statements and testimonies we have presented so far. They are from delegates, leaders, and intelligence officers of regions that have experience with Govindia and know of his actions from TWP. We do not see how Ithania's testimony can possibly be considered "random" when she is a leader and citizen of one of the feeders you brought a testimony from, nor can the testimony of New Drakensburg Range, a long time NSer from England and very skilled at intelligence himself.  Additionally, the members of Feudal Japan (now Tokugawa Japan) have also witnessed much of the treatment given to Govindia, and have seen how he acts in their region.  Catlandatopia tried to discredit my client during the invasion, and failed. .

statements of famous Taijituans such as Korinn, Flemingovia or Meridianland or of our own root administration represent nothing in this case

As we pointed out, Meridianland's statement is biased. As things stand at the moment, we intend to focus on Korinn's and Flemingovia's testimony in our next statement.


Before closing this particular statement, there is one last thing I would like to say. Govindia did what he needed and took the oath to become citzen, but although he may be a restricted member of this forum, nowhere has anyone ever revoked his citizenship (or his ambassador position).

[PoD Gunner]

Until the Court will be able to sort out my request, I will refrain from any comments. Merry Christmas.

[Osamafune]

There are a few questions that the defense still has.

Your honours, is Korinn also part of the prosecution?  During the trial, it was mentioned that the he was an Assistant Prosecutor, as alluded to in his testimony, but we have yet to see him in this topic.  In addition, the prosecution chose to present a testimony from Korinn and if he indeed is on the prosecution, it could mean that the testimony was biased.   

We would also like to know about what the new time line is that was mentioned by the justices during the trial, for the record.

Also, has the court even received the evidence from the prosecution? We are aware that the court has yet to see it, but are not sure if it has even been received yet.

[The G Rebellion]

Yes. The Court has received the evidence that the prosecution has sent. Korinn has not played an active role to prosecute in this trial. I don't think he had an intention of being part of it either, therefore, he is not considered as a member of that counsel.

I am going to go out there now and say that if you want to make closing statements, do so before midnight tonight. It has been maintained from the beginning, this trial will not go past Christmas. Therefore, it will have to end tonight. There has been plenty of time for both sides to present and I feel that both have done so. The justices can discuss this after Christmas and we will present the verdict, hopefully before January.

[Osamafune]

So you have recieved it, but have yet to look really look at it? Is the evidence going to be dismissed, accepted, etc?

We can have the rest of our statements and one testimony that we recieved at the last moment presented today, there's no problem there. However, the contents of our closing statement may change depending upon what happens to the evidence.

[Osamafune]

Your Honors, we recieved a witness statement at almost the last minute from Alexander Solan, who as we all know is an active participant in the Taijituan community.

"I think that Gov is like any other person in Taijitu looking for a nice environment in which to RP, meet new people and basically just have fun. He rubs many people the wrong way, though, due to his under-developed social skills and those who lack patience with rare flaws they might not have seen before easily get frustrated with his clumsy way of presenting himself and his viewpoints. However, from what I've gathered about his person, he understands this issue in himself and tries to fix it, but as people are often stuck with first impressions, this improvement goes unnoticed to most as people don't want to believe in it.


"As for his threat level toward the 'security of Taijitu,' I take it that that refers to the NS interregional politics part of the forum which frankly just brings more intrigue to the game. Of course, in that regard it would have been and would be more fair to simply restrict his access to those parts of the forum he might 'spy' upon if that indeed is a genuine worry to anyone and not merely an excuse to follow the example of other regions in banning him.


"Alternatively, if the 'security' of the Taijituan community is in question, the whole process the Court is undergoing is complete and utter BS as

"1) the community becomes only stronger and more interesting to participate in when special people like Gov (pun not intended) are present.

"2) As it has been earlier determined the forum consists of three parts: NS, general areas and RP. To postulate that someone might pose a threat to all three and/or the forum structure itself requires proof and the fact that none have been spread publicly and that there is in fact a Court proceeding imply that no such threat exists to the forum and community in and of themselves.


"Ergo, it can be deduced that the whole proceeding is either an NS stunt for some purpose or just spitefulness under the guise of 'regional security.' Either way, the threat remains very small in any practical sense, thanks to the relatively active presence of admins. In conclusion and in my opinion, Gov does not present any risk to anything that would or could justify the bullying occuring right now, here."

Soly's testimony fits in well with the previous testimonies from Delfos and Thel D'Ran. As both Delfos and Soly testify, there was a large amount of bullying, discrimination, and flaming against the defendant, Govindia. As both Thel D'Ran and Soly testify, Govindia was trying to change his ways, but few people believed it.


The rest of the testimony speaks for itself.

[Osamafune]

As TAO, I have been contacted by several female players (members of TWP and players outside of TWP who have heard of these proceedings) describing how they felt they were being “stalked by Ramaba” because of his constant requests for personal information, his repeated harassment through multiple cyber media, and his not-so-veiled sexual innuendos. These ladies had no reason to lie. Most now block Ramaba from their IM and email. One young lady said she had to block his phone.

An exaggeration.  My client does not stalk anyone, and people simply asking something about info was only him trying to get to know them better.  He meant no harm in such a manner and such things are taken out of context.  He has only spoken with two young people over the phone, and both were males.  My client still talks to people from TWP who do not mind talking to him.

 

Regarding IC matters, as TAO I find that Govindia has no honor. When he was denied membership into the Order of Gryphons under his own name in TWP, he applied under a different name and from a different region. He is now an applicant-non-gratis in the Order.

That has nothing to do with honour.  Nowhere in the application requirements did it mandate that my client could not re-apply to a different chapter.  Thyatira, the head of the order, knew what nation his client was applying as, and those who questioned him knew in Govindia's application that he was in multiple regions, yet they did not feel the need to ask him.  It’s not his fault he wasn’t asked.  It’s not his fault the documentation in the way the OOG set up their application forgot to mention that.  If it wasn’t documented, then it’s not against the policy.  Unlike TAO, my client does his best to treat people with  the respect and dignity every human being must be afforded with.

When the trial of Ramaba was happening in TWP, Ramaba (Govindia) harassed forum members via PM to support and defend him. Many of those who had previously supported him found this harassment to be “over the top” and they chose to support the case against him instead.

Govindia is a loose cannon who presumes he is owed position and power but he doesn’t really do anything to earn it … or the TRUST that such position involves.

Govindia exhibits NO restraint in sharing PMs with a third party and without permission of the other player.  He uses such privileged information as he would a trading card to secure personal prestige.  In most governments, we call that treason.

IC and OOC he is a detestable player and TWP suffers with him in our midst.

He is allowed to ask people for support in his case.  He had people arguing his case for him in the court, and that is not harassment.  My client never sought power, only to be treated with proper respect, which he felt he was not receiving through the discrimination that the oligarchy in TWP was giving, in how they mistreated those who vocally dissented and sought to change the region into a better democracy.  He has never sent security information to other people at all.  TAO, to this day, has not even shown any evidence to present my client as a security threat to TWP.  Treason is the act of giving support and/or aiding and abetting enemies.  Since my client never shared any information with invaders or invader threats to TWP, he is not a security threat to The West Pacific, and such lack of evidence shows that none exists as TAO has reluctantly refused to back up his claims that my client was a threat to that region.

Bottom line: he was removed from TWP and the region is a much better place because of it. But TWP is preparing to take further action against Govindia because of his sneaking into our forum under a different name and using a proxy even though he is banned. So it would seem that Govindia is not only a problematic player, he is a  stupid [less diligent] one.

This once again shows the heavy bias TAO has towards my client.  He has no evidence to suggest he is a security threat to TWP, otherwise he would have backed up his words with such evidence.  Many in TWP privately have expressed to my client and to others, about how disgusted they are with TAO’s treatment and how this region has acted in such a bullying manner.  And I thought bullying occurred in high school, when people were more likely to be immature, then with people past their mid 20’s. 

Govindia was first banned from the forum for constant and consistent disobedience of forum administration, and for violating forum policy, rules and regulations. He was then banned a second time for not only repeat offenses, but also for circumventing the ban already in effect, in a deceptive, fraudulent manner.

My client was banned because of the result of an RP dispute which some people were not happy with, and even the delegate at the time, Infinite Loop, agreed that it should not have happened, and that it should have been resolved differently, which is why he wanted to help my client return initially before Gnidrah found out and banned my client a second time.  Since then, Loop and some others have made peace with him and hope he can return someday and be able to RP once again.

 

The biggest problem was in his personal dealings with others. We learned very quickly that he was stalking one of the members of the region. We investigated the situation and suspended him for a month. On his return, he was to have no further contact with this member whatsoever. He never, in all our investigations of this first incident, admitted to stalking her, or that his attentions weren’t wanted. Instead, like an abuser, he put the blame on that member. She began participating less and less in our forums, btw.

He returned and appeared to be towing the straight and narrow. However, that was a sham. He returned to stalking the member and fell in with a group of dissidents in the region in December 2005/January 2006. After we learned of his renewed stalking, Fudgie and I had numerous conversations with him. Fudgie was extremely pissed at the man and I learned, from conversations with him, that he was stalking women rt, and, again, never saw that his attentions weren’t wanted. In the end, we had to ban him; he claimed, of course, that it was part of being a member of the opposition, but it was nothing of the sort.

 

My client never stalked anyone from TSP, and those claims were grossly exaggerated.  My client never knew the above-mentioned member IRL and did not stalk her or anyone else.  My client was banned, as told by Goddessness, for being a security threat, although he was denied his right to trial, as required in TSP’s charter, and no evidence was presented to show my client was a regional security threat, again another example of silencing a vocal opposition for attempting to bring democratic change.

 

Your Honours, my client here tried to come to Taijitu to RP and be friendly, and hope to start anew in this region.  Instead, other people from other regions tried to poison his chances of starting over by speaking with people in this region, as the prosecution has pointed out in his opening statement, and filling their minds with their gossip about my client, causing people to already have preconceived notions about me.  Some however, have been open-minded and realised this and gotten to know my client better as a friend, and have seen that he is not a bad person, but a friendly one that one needs to really take the time to get to know, and to ignore such preconceived notions from other people.