Hostile Witness
Posted on Tue Oct 17th, 2017 @ 1:55pm by Lieutenant Commander Jordan Gunning & Lieutenant Commander Izize sh'Ekesariss & Lieutenant Sydney Palmieri M.D., Ph.D.
Mission:
The Band (Episode 1)
Location: Starfleet Office of the Judge Advocate General [Cestus III]
OOC Mike: Hey Lori - good to have you aboard! I know that in your opening post (sample) Syd's CO had her told what ship she'd be assigned to. I'm hoping that when you're posting it you might be able to take that out. At the moment no-one knows what we're getting (in character at least) so if he could say she'd been assigned to a crew and she's to rendezvous with them on Cestus III or something like that I would really appreciate it.
As for your 'proper' introductory, MC (Ize sh'Ekesariss) and I have been doing a bit of a Muppets thing of getting the band together, going around and finding the people that we want for our crew. These have been partially to get people 'aboard' in a different way but also to give a real flavour of the type of person their character is. For example, Roth our pilot is in a prison cell and Dahleya is stalking a target as we try to get a word in with her.
What do you reckon Syd might be up to on Cestus III that Gunning and Ize could find her doing? :)
OOC Lori: Hi Mike! Thanks for the add. Just out of curiosity, did you get my email via the contact form? I ask because I didn't receive a reply so I took a chance applying, lol! I was hoping someone with a psych background would be welcome. No problem changing my intro post. As for getting started, I'm trying to think of something cool...like maybe she served as an expert witness for a fairly high profile trial of some sort and she is seen being interviewed on vid? Perhaps a Starfleet case? Sorry for the delay. Family's here, so it's a bit chaotic. :-)
OOC Mike: Innnnnnnteresting - I can't say I did although I think my spam trap's set to 'mega-super-fun-time' so it may have got stuck in there. Sorry about that! I think having a psych focused doctor is going to work out nicely as I don't anticipate having too many major injuries to deal with provided the hazard team are competent. No guarantees. That sounds like a good idea - we can have Ize and Gunning watching the vid and talking about her before actually going in to meet her maybe and then you could play the actual parts of her appearing on the screen? Let's do a wee set up...
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Jordan Gunning and Ize sh'Ekesariss sat quietly in a darkened room while an officious little Bolian from the JAG office wheeled in a small projector which looked like it belonged in a museum. "Sorry, Commanders." He said in quick, clipped tones which suggested he had much better things to be doing than looking out witness testimony for two overbearing officers. "Our actual projector is broken and the replacement hasn't arrived yet. I think this should serve your purposes though."
Ize eyed the projector suspiciously as her antennae leaned away from each other. The old device certainly didn't belong in a supposed-state of the art JAG facility like this. She glanced at Gunning with a frown as the Bolian finished setting it up. "When you said our next stop was recruiting a medical officer ... this is far from what I imagined."
The Bolian disappeared and Gunning clicked play on the projector, casting the image of a woman with brown hair, wearing a teal dress uniform onto the little screen at the far end of the room. "Ize sh'Ekesariss, meet Doctor Palmieri."
The vid began to cycle through with the usual oaths and promises of truth, light and benevolence, and then the cross-examination started.
"Doctor Palmieri," the defence attorney began respectfully and then instantly dropped the charade, "I believe you would describe yourself as an expert in forensic psychology?" The word expert shot forth from his mouth with such force that Gunning thought it might come through the screen.
If the dark-haired olive skinned psychiatrist detected any condescension in the defense attorney's words, she didn't show it. Instead, she turned to face the attorney and offered her response evenly, as if she had been asked for a breakfast order. "I have a PhD in forensic psychiatry and I have consulted as a forensic psychologist for Starfleet. Others have deemed me an expert in the area based on my professional experience, yes." Sydney have learned to speak factually when testifying in court. How she saw herself didn't much matter, but by getting her to talk about herself, the defense attorney was trying to open the door to attack Sydney's personal character.
Ize's antennae dipped laterally just a little before swaying forward. "Why, again, do we need a forensic psychologist?"
Gunning raised his eyebrow. Give it a minute.
"As it relates to the current case, you were given responsibility for creating the psychological profile of the person, or persons," the defence attorney turned toward the jury. It was a classic move, "who committed this most heinous murder?"
"That is correct," Sydney replied. Only professionalism kept her eyes from rolling at the dramatic characterization of the crime. Weren't all murders heinous? What was it exactly that made any murder more heinous than any other?
"Your profile reads that the person - or persons - in question is likely suffering from something called dissociative identity disorder. Can you provide a brief precis of such a condition for the benefit of the jury?"
Not bothering to nod, Sydney turned to the jury and explained, keeping her tone level and her words simplistic, but not overly so, to avoid appearing condescending.
"Dissociative identity disorder or, DID for short, is a mental health condition caused by severe psychological trauma. People with DID have experienced trauma so overwhelming and so intense that the only way they know how to cope is by this process called dissociation, in which a person mentally disconnects from what's happening around him or her. We know from studying people with this disorder who have sought therapy that the first instance of dissociation is usually described as the sensation of feeling disconnected from one's body as the original trauma was happening. In therapy sessions, they will often talk of watching themselves experience the trauma from a different corner of the room or the environment as any trauma is occurring. Someone with the disorder has often been repeatedly traumatized to the point he or she will "check out" so to speak when he or she encounters environmental or emotional triggers that are similar to those associated with the original traumas. Dissociation happens so automatically to these people, they often don't realize that's what is happening to them when they lose time or suddenly have feelings of anxiety they can't place or explain. At the most extreme end of the dissociative identity disorder spectrum, a person's entire personality can fragment, creating several alters within A single host. Each alter represents a portion of the host personality, which is meant to protect the host from the most overwhelming aspects of the traumatic experiences."
"And, having had the chance to analyse the reports on my client, would you say that he is suffering from that particular condition?"
Once more, Sydney turned to the jury. "No, I would not say your client is suffering from dissociative identity disorder."
Gunning turned back to his Executive Officer. "That's why we need her. Let's go and get her."
Jordan Gunning
Ize sh'Ekesariss
Sydney Palmieri
