Ahem.
Edit 3/2: Ferdielance deserves credit for all of his wonderful ideas, including:
The Prosecutor's Aide be able to do anything the Prosecutor can, except call witnesses or offer penalties, and that the defense aide likewise be given the ability to make objections, etc. This will keep the game moving along steadily even when the defense or prosecutor has a slowdown in posting.
Absolute darkness.
It had been that way for an hour now, but the power company had assured us that they would get things going again pretty soon. An easy fix, they said, most definitely an easy task. Supposedly, the thunderstorm storm was the cause of everything. There had been lightning strikes all over town, they said, and three of their transformers had been struck. Once they got everything repaired, we would have our power back, lickety-split!
The guests were extremely agitated. We had just finished eating dinner, and everyone retired to the parlor for drinks and a bit of conversation, when the lights shut themselves off. I tried my best to calm everybody, but it would be hard to stay calm in a completely darkened house, so Mr. Deane and I went downstairs to find the emergency flashlights. Mr. Bradsworth went out into the hall to call the electric company, but he never returned. We're searching the mansion for him, but there's nowhere left to--
...
Dear Lord!
Wh-what is this?!
M-Mr. Bradsworth!!
Mr. Bradsworth!!!
Now that the plot has been established...
The roles that currently need to be filled are:
Defendant
Defense attorney - Evolina deLuna
Defense's aid - Dave
Prosecuting attorney - Ferdielance
Prosecutor's aide
Witness No. 1
Witness No. 2 -Trybien
Witness No. 3 - Gav
Witness No. 4
Witness No. 5 - max2953
Each player is limited to only one character; I will be playing the role of the neutral judge and the (semi-)competent Detective Gumshoe. You may play as either a canon character or a non-canon character (i.e. OCs), but not multiple copies/time travelers of the same character. If a DA, DA aide, prosecutor, or prosecutor's aide wish to cease playing, they may switch out with someone else who wishes to play the part, and I will work their absence into the story. (To be clear, you can be a different character--for instance, DA no. 1 gets wounded in some way, and another DA must take over.) For the witnesses, you may switch out with someone else--but until the end of this game, they must play as your character.
Investigation:
Once the five witness spots have been filled, I will choose one of you at random to be the true culprit. Through PM, we will discuss how you accomplished the crime and various other things, but it's up to you to keep this information under wraps. DO NOT REVEAL, AT ANY TIME, THAT YOU ARE THE TRUE MURDERER THROUGH PM, CHAT, OR ANY OTHER MEANS. Please. I want to make this %100 enjoyable for all participants, and anyone found cheating will be kicked out of the RP and replaced by someone else. The other four witnesses will seem suspicious up until a certain point, but once all four of you have been disproven, only the true killer will remain.
It is the responsibility of the defense attorney and the defense's aide to arrive at the truth, and you will do so through investigation days and trial days. Through evidence and testimony, you must make a deduction as to the true criminal--once you have discovered who he is, you must present decisive evidence as to his/her guilt, and you must provide an in-depth explanation as to how the murder took place. If your theory and your evidence are correct, the true culprit will suffer a breakdown while on the stand, and he/she will admit their guilt.
Now, prosecutor(s). It is your task to "gently" assist the defense--and by "gently", I mean...well, this is an explanation better left to Ferdielance:
In the canon games, it looks as though the prosecutors are trying to hinder the defense at every step, but it's not really true! In fact, they're usually helping a lot.
* Prosecutors usually point out problems with the defense arguments very quickly - something that prevents the player from going down a totally wrong path. When they don't do this in a timely manner, you get... Turnabout of Courage, arguably. And even there, Hazama is still helpful at least some of the time.
When I've really, really wanted to hinder the defense in Trial RP, I let them follow a bad theory until they tie themselves into a knot, and then let them get a series of penalties trying to escape. But I was playing a "helpful" prosecutor at the time, so I also left them a way out and encouraged them to take it. Not doing so would have been pure bullying.
* Prosecutors allow testimonies that wreck their cases to reach the stand. Now, canonically, Phoenix has to "find the holes" or press. But if a prosecutor were really playing to win, don't you think they'd just keep the witness testimonies as short as possible and erase all the holes by misdirection? Or, alternatively, coach the witness to give an insanely long testimony that hides the answer among irrelevancies? Or even not call certain witnesses at all?
Unless the defense has the right to call witnesses, the prosecution can sabotage the entire trial to their benefit.
* In canon, there is one time we're shown a prosecutor who really does play to win, and only to win. The only way he's ever beaten is by a succession of lucky breaks and a surprise witness, which we don't have.
Whew. My point is, a prosecutor can be as cruel or sneaky in-character as you want... but unless their player's OOC goal is to "do things that make for a fair, solvable, interesting case," rather than "to do whatever is needed within the letter of the rules to win," there's a serious power imbalance.
(Thank you for that, Ferdie. Without you, I'm sure this thing would have failed already, before it had even gotten off the ground.)
One final note to the prosecution. I will send the active prosecutor a list of evidence that is available to him/her before each trial day, excluding all of the evidence that the defense has found. (If you've missed something on the list, you'll recieve it as a "stroke of luck" on the police's behalf.)
Witnesses, your task is to create a time-line of your actions before and after the murder. Since you and your testimony are going to be thoroughly scrutinized by both the prosecution and the defense, it is necessary that you give very in-depth explanations of what you were doing. Once you have finished with your time-line, you MUST send a copy to me, so I can make sure that there are no major contradictions between them. If you feel the need, you may create small pieces of evidence that have come about through your actions, such as fingerprints on a cup, broken glass, etc.
Defendant, as you know, you are not guilty of being a murderer. You know that you're not guilty, but the only evidence you have to the contrary will be your memory--and the title of the actual murderer. Since you're not supposed to know his/her name, your character cannot figure out the killer's true identity, but you will be able to give the DA clues that I will provide to you.
...
I hope that's cleared up things a bit.
Though, I kinda doubt it...
So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and sign up, today!