Stone ( Commodore ) Commodore Stone was a male Human Starfleet flag officer in the 23rd century . This former starship captain was a highly decorated officer . In 2267 , while serving in the operations division , he was the portmaster of Starbase 11 . That same year , Stone also served as the President of the Court in the first general court martial of a Starfleet captain in the history of the service . History . In 2267 , the headed to Starbase 11 for a non - schedule d layover after being badly damaged from a recent encounter with a severe ion storm . As the " Enterprise " had higher priority than its sister ship , Stone rescheduled Maintenance Section Eighteen to work on the former ship . Stone found a discrepancy between Captain James T . Kirk ' s deposition regarding the death of Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Finney , and a significantly different computer record of the incident . Stone entertained a number of reasons why Kirk might have killed Finney , from negligence to malice . For a moment , Stone was willing to sweep the incident aside for the good of the service , by offering Kirk a permanent ground assignment . Incensed by the accusation , Kirk maintained the error was in the log s and demanded his name be cleared . In his capacity as President of the Court , Stone convened Kirk ' s court martial . The trial proceeded smoothly until the investigation of Spock suggested tampering on the " Enterprise " computers . Stone accepted defense attorney Cogley ' s suggestion that the court re - convene aboard the " Enterprise " . Confirmation of Spock ' s suspicions led to the revelation that Finney was indeed alive and still aboard the ship . After Finney sabotage d the " Enterprise " and the spacecraft began to lose orbit , Stone refused to adjourn to the starbase , instead opting to actually share the risks the starship ' s crew faced . From the bridge , Stone and the court officers heard the " testimony " of Finney by monitoring his confrontation with Kirk . Once Kirk had defeated Finney and restored the ship ' s orbit , Stone dismissed the court . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Stone was played by actor Percy Rodriguez . The character of Commodore Stone is the highest - ranking Starfleet officer of African descent depicted in . This character was originally an unnamed " Harbormaster " , written as such in early story outlines of " Court Martial " ( which meanwhile had the working title " Court Martial at Star Base 811 " ) . In the episode ' s first draft story outline ( dated ) , he was described as " " a grouchy , elderly former flying officer , now grounded as overage and disposed to be prejudiced against Kirk for the simple reason that Kirk still holds command - flight functions and he does not . " " A revised story outline for the installment ( dated ) characterized him as " " a retired Star Ship captain himself , who is well aware of how easy it is to charge negligence or misconduct and how rarely there is any basis to such charges . " " In the final draft and revised final draft of the script for " Court Martial " , Stone was initially described as " " a Negro , whose bearing marks him as a man accustomed to command . No longer a flight officer , his uniform is somewhat different from Kirk ' s . " " In the final draft script , Stone was twice referred to , in dialogue , as a " Portmaster " , in regard to his duties at Starbase 11 , and one of the two references was in a captain ' s log entry voiced by Kirk , which also characterized Stone as holding the rank of " senior captain " . In the revised final draft script , the references to Stone as a " Portmaster " were edited out . Instead , he was referred to , in Kirk ' s log entry , as " the commander of Starbase 11 . . . Commander Stone . " However , he was still called a " Portmaster " , albeit in the script ' s cast list . In a similar change of title , the final draft referred to Stone as " Chief Judge " at Kirk ' s court martial whereas the revised final draft called him " President of the Court " during those proceedings . Apocrypha . According to the reference book " Star Trek Concordance " by Bjo Trimble , Stone ' s first and middle initials were " L . T . " " The Star Trek Compendium " by Allan Asherman and the comic " Who ' s Who in Star Trek 1 " also called him " L . T . Stone " . This information may have been from an early draft of the script . In the novel " Vulcan ! " , by author Kathleen Sky , Stone ' s first name was established as " David " . " " differed and called him " Aaron Stone " . " Preserver " calls him " Robert Stone " . The comic book story " Action of the Tiger " indicated he was later promoted to admiral .