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How to do a fantasy courtroom drama?

I got an idea for a short story about a lawyer trying to help a servant girl avoid getting hanged for poisoning her master. Okay, maybe it's a novella, there seems to be a bit too much twist and turns for a short story. I'm three pages in and have some general idea of how it's gonna play out. I think my story takes place around 1700. Could go earlier too, I guess, but I feel 1700 would do nicely for courtroom drama.

But I need things like cops, attorneys, legal structures, etc, to fit into a fantasy world. I guess a starting point would be how those things played out in older times. Are there any good resources out there for this particular subject?
 

Nirak

Minstrel
You could try the "Everyday Life in..." or "....for Writers" series that are overviews of different eras. I know there's an "Everyday Life in Colonial America" book.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
courtroom proceedings happen a couple times in my 'Empire" series - in fact they're rather central to the last book, 'Empire: Judgment,' but I decided to keep the courtroom action to a minimum. Reason being, after pulling jury duty more times than I care to think about (Grand and Petit) it's well, boring.

In 'Empire: Capital' (book 2) the courtroom end is simply the pronouncement of sentence (for several people).

In 'Judgment,' a demon lord has put the denizens of the Empire on trial, who are represented by their notables. There is no jury, no legal counsel, not much in the way of court officials - just the demon and these people, who are technically being treated as 'plebes' (next to lowest social caste in the Empire). Their testimony comes in the form of anecdotes and stories.
 
I think the main thing, in any court room drama, is the drama.

Clever revelations - surprise revelations - strategic questioning etc. These things need to be present plus your fantasy context also which is a major further complication.
 
I think the most interesting question (to me in this scenario) is how "magic" or your shaped world would fit into this courtroom drama. Does magic play into the revelations in the courtroom? Is there a way to produce truth through the use of magic? Or a way to trick and hide the truth with the use of magic?

This concept is infinitely interesting to me. I'd love to read it once you're finished up!
 
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