State of Minedonia v. Paul A. Mills

State of Minedonia v. Paul A. Mills was a court trial regarding criminal charges filed against Mr. Mills during the grand opening party at Bellisario Manor. Mr. Mills was arrested on June 25th, 2023 for 21 counts of narcotics possession, 1 count of intent to distribute narcotics, and 3 counts of unregistered firearms. The trial was presided by Judge Henry, with DJ Esquire acting as the prosecutor. The trial was on August 13th, at the Minedonian Court House in Downtown Minedonia. The trial lasted for well over an hour and a half; with Mr. Mills being found guilty of 21 counts of narcotics possession, and not guilty of 3 counts of unregistered firearms. It was the first court case held in Minedonia.

## Arrest

On June 25th, 2023, Mr. Mills hosted a grand opening party at Bellisario Manor with several people in attendance, including MSA Director 6th, police chief Colt Schultz, and President Harpitron. The party started out normally until 6th, and Colt snuck downstairs to the basement and discovered a stash of substances. Mr. Mills was later detained and held for questioning in his office. After refusal to sign a statement, Colt discovered several unregistered weapons and a hidden bloody knife in the back of a fireplace. Mr. Mills was later arrested for possession of narcotics, and several unregistered firearms.

## Pre-Trial

Discussion of a trial against Mr. Mills began as soon as he was arrested and transported to the MSA headquarters. The trial was originally planned to be one massive case against Mr. Mills with charges dating all the way back to the 2023 Invasion of Minedonia. However, on August 11th, 2023, it was announced that any criminal charges that were before April 24th, 2023, when the Minedonian laws were created, were considered to be dismissed as the alleged activities were before the laws were official. The following day, on August 12th, the date for the court case was set for the next day, August 13th, 2023; along with the charges against Mr. Mills finalized. The charges were estimated to be a total of 25 charges, 21 counts of narcotics possession, 1 count of intent to distribute narcotics, and 3 counts of unregistered firearms.

A very brief arraignment was held on August 12th, where Mr. Mills pled “not guilty” to all of the charges against him.

## Trial

On August 13th, 2023, the trial began around 7:58 PM EST in the Minedonian Court House. There were three jurors present: Mitchell Foulkes, President Harpitron, and Morden Graive. The trial was recorded by Colt Schultz, however, after the trial, there were issues with the video and only pieces of the trial ended up being recorded. The prosecution and defense read out their opening statements. The prosecution then proceeded to call up their witness, MSA Director 6th. After some questioning and cross-examining, Mr. Mills was later questioned as a witness, even though he was representing himself. Throughout the trial, Judge Henry made two rulings regarding the laws of owning a deactivated weapon, and the MSA not being a legal branch of the Government. Towards the end, the prosecution attempted to enter a book alleged to have been written by Mr. Mills regarding the intent to distribute the narcotics. However, since the book was untitled and unsigned, it was later struck down as the authenticity was brought into question. A short while later, after the closing statements were read, the jury began to deliberate in the jury room.

## Verdict

After almost 20 minutes of the jury deliberating, they returned a verdict of “guilty” for 21 counts of narcotics possession, and “not guilty” for 3 counts of unregistered firearms. Judge Henry later issued a sentence of 6 months in the Minedonian Penitentiary, and a 1,000 Donian fine for Mr. Mills, thus officially ending the first trial held in Minedonia.

## Post-Trial

After the trial, President Harpitron announced that he would be working on enacting and making laws clearer regarding the process for the registration and deactivating of firearms.