MovieChat Forums > Battlestar Galactica (2005) Discussion > Baltar's trial was hopeless

Baltar's trial was hopeless

posted 7 years ago by Kruleworld
17 replies | jump to latest

i understand they didn't have much time, but they didn't show (or have) the prosecution rip Lee Adama apart. It was so heavily biased to show Baltar as somehow redeemable. it seems based loosly on the usa system, and the prosecution could cross-examine.
I would have asked Adama three questions
1. How much time did you spend on New Caprica after the Cylons arrived?
(none)
2. What testimony can you give about Baltar's time in office
(none)
3. Should we hold the President of the 12 colonies to a higher standard to that of a civilian or military citizen?
(yes)
I would then have moved to have his testimony stricken from the record. i'm no lawyer, but the prosecution managed to loose the unlosable case and i'm wondering why?

"He's dusted, busted and disgusted, but he's ok"

[–] President_Ackbar_Impeached 7 years ago

Even creepy Nixon got a pardon.

[–] Metatron_Fallen 7 years ago

Yeah, you can ask those questions but you also get Baltar airlocked for your dogged pursuit of thoroughness.

Baltar is one of the most important characters when it comes to the overall success of the human race. Can't afford to have him killed out of retribution. He did nothing wrong.

Laura Roslin- now that was the one who should have been put on trial. Why did she even get to start being president again? She just usurped that office after New Caprica. If anyone ever deserved a kangaroo court and a swift lynching- it was her.

She pardoned Baltar and all the others. Lee just reminded everyone of that fact.

[–] jakeconhale 7 years ago

Hardly usurped (and no one deserves a kangaroo court).

Zarek gave her the Presidency through a political game of musical chairs.

The scene in question from 3x05:

Roslin: So, Mr. President, how long before the new Quorum of Twelve can be sworn in?
Zarek: Three days. I will personally place your name in nomination as my Vice President. once they confirm you, I submit my resignation and you get sworn in. The whole thing should take less than an hour.
Roslin: You're stepping down without a fight? Means Tom Zarek wants something. So why don't you put your cards on the table and let's see if it's a price that I'm willing to pay.
Zarek: Well, I'm a realist. I never had any illusions about remaining in office for very long. And the Admiral's made it quite clear that he'd like nothing better than to put me in a cell if I try to hang on to power.
Roslin: He's trying to do you a favor. You and I both know how impossible it would be to govern this fleet without the backing of the military.
Zarek: I agree. That's why we're here. Even so, I want to be included in the new government. I don't wanna be on the outside looking in anymore.
Roslin: Okay. Okay. You stood up to Baltar on New Caprica. You nearly lost your life for your trouble. This Fleet needs that kind of courage. The vice presidency is yours if you want it, Tom.
Zarek, laughing: Well, thank you.
Roslin, shaking his hand: You're welcome.

Jake Meridius Conhale, at your service!
"Old Man of the BSG (RDM) boards.

[–] Metatron_Fallen 7 years ago

Whatever. Hitler had his sycophants as well.

[–] jakeconhale 7 years ago

I'm not sure what you mean by that and not sure I want to know what you mean by it.

Point being that, as I recall, Roslin didn't specifically seek out the office or manipulate events to bring her back to the office, Zarek surprised her with his own intentions, which she went along with and the Quorum supported. Thus, no, she didn't "usurp" the position as in seizing it illegally or by force.

Sure, she TRIED, before New Caprica, but the good Admiral talked her out of that one.

Jake Meridius Conhale, at your service!
"Old Man" of the BSG (RDM) boards.

[–] Metatron_Fallen 7 years ago

Whatever.

Roslin was a piece of human waste.

[–] kuatorises (7467) 4 years ago

Baltar gave access to classified projects and information to a blonde because he was banging her; which lead to the deaths of...actually I don't even know how you quantify 12 planets worth of people. There's no number for that.

He his Boomer's identity from the fleet - and we all know what she ended up doing. That's just ONE of the things he did while being aboard the Galactica his first go round.

He signed a document to kill people to save his own life.

He spent pretty much all of season 3 with and actively helping the Cylons.

But yeah, something angry, derp, derp, Laura Roslin!

[–] Forky (1739) 4 years ago

it was 50 billion

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

👍👍👍

[–] jakeconhale 7 years ago

Apollo wasn't on the stand about Baltar, but called to offer testimony about how at least one member of the panel of judges (Adm Adama) was prejudiced and subverting the nature of the trial - a fair consideration of the facts and testimony.

Then it shifted into that speech. Not really sure what Cassidy could have done. Apollo had already spoken a lot about the nature of the trial but at no point actually answered the initial question - was Admiral Adama biased? I've heard it said that in a trial you should never ask someone a question you don't know the answer to, if Adama was biased then they'd have a mistrial and have to do the whole thing over again, with more time for defense to build a better argument, if no then really nothing changes, that speech of his was already in everyone's mind.

I suppose Cassidy could have objected during the speech, but the panel had already given Apollo permission to speak so that may have already been nullified.

Jake Meridius Conhale, at your service!
"Old Man" of the BSG (RDM) boards.

[–] marta-mcbeal 7 years ago

I would then have moved to have his testimony stricken from the record. i'm no lawyer, but the prosecution managed to loose the unlosable case and i'm wondering why?

Where I live, jury trials are anecdotic but I think they are the only ones in which a lawyer can build a case that could appeal to emotion. In my opinion, the prosecution didn't cut as deep in this respect; I think moving numbers from one column to another had little impact, they didn't exactly feel the loss in the exposition ^^;

Also, from the perspective of their legal framework, they probably had nothing on him... Lambkin procured the silence of a vital witness (Caprica Six), there was no signed confession and the inconsistency of an amnesty in which it could be argued that Baltar was included was hovering over them. The only thing they had left to judge on was the morality of Baltar's actions, a task that like Lee implied, was assigned to a group of people who had their hands dirty as well. Those who in the end didn't point the finger at Baltar were probably wondering: who am I to judge? xD

[–] Volley (3368) 4 years ago

See, the main issue about Baltar's trial is that no one, not one pointed out that it was Baltar's own fault in the first place that the fleet settled on New Caprica.

That was never supposed to be the plan. The plan was to find earth. The world was only a few percentage points habitable, and proper research of the planet was never done to determine if it was a viable place to live long term. Apparently the planet was heavily devoid of resources which made long term habitation especially difficult, had it been allowed to happen.

Case in point, Baltar becoming President and then immediately ordering the colonization of New Caprica should have been the main focus of the trial, because his rush to settle the planet just as a voting strategy was the reason the Cylons arrived in the first place.

Not to mention Baltar is one hundred percent responsible for giving a tactical nuclear weapon to the Cloud 9 Six, which resulted in the complete destruction of Cloud 9 and other ships. No one brings that up. No one mentions that. No one properly investigates that, and I feel that this is a missed storyline plot for Season 3. Instead we got standalone episodes and too many episodes that are slow paced.

[–] snepts (11123) 4 years ago

Good point. Baltar has so much going against him it was hard to see how he'd survive the trial, and that everyone was so moved by Lee's speech begs credibility. And yes, they could have drawn the trial out for at least a couple episodes as it had that potential. But it's a fun turn for the series, so I won't be upset by it.

[–] Volley (3368) 4 years ago

Yep, in the end everything had to happen a certain way to line things up for Season 4 and the final set of episodes. The trial is still among my favorite scenes in the show, it was great.

[–] Boricanator (1369) 2 years ago

With the exception of your last paragraph, none of what you said is a crime.

The people voted for Baltar and gave him a mandate to settle New Caprica.

Was it a bad decision? Probably. But it wasn’t illegal and not relevant to the trial.

[–] Quasimodo (16388) 4 years ago

No you don't get it. Everything was about Gaius. God set it all up so that Gaius would be guilty of colluding in the deaths of 50 billion people just so that God could then forgive him. That's how important Gaius was and that's how much God enjoyed forgiving him !

[–] Boricanator (1369) 2 years ago

The bottomline with Baltar’s trial was that he was charged with the thing he was least responsible for.

The Cylons invaded New Caprica and the army jumped away. He was defenseless. Baltar was a prisoner and they literally put a gun in his head to sign the death list.