Overview
The People v. “Huge Larry” and Others was a high-profile criminal case initiated by The Second Lilaris Empire against members of the rising “Larry Cult” and its affiliates. The defendants, Huge Larry, Exoticus Exo, Isaac Acentino, Kevinus Exo, Louis Lime, and Zack Arn, were charged under the Lilaris Criminal Code (1-LCC) with assault, battery, treason, unlawful assembly, and harboring a known fugitive following an attempted ritual coercion of Princess Salem Alvaldi. The matter was filed as Case No. 593-LIR-NT in the New Terranova Imperial Court by Empress Kara A. Ehrveil under the Lilaris Department of Justice Act (see the consolidated case filing).
The trial collapsed before judgment when its defense counsel, who was also a co-defendant, was assessed for intoxication and confirmed drunk in the courtroom. Court was suspended pending continuation and never reconvened. Every defendant was killed in The Night of the Veil before resumption.
Incident and Charges
During a baptismal ceremony held by the Larry Cult in unclaimed territory, Princess Salem Alvaldi was allegedly pressured to accept baptism and marriage under coercive ideological terms. When she refused, Huge Larry, Exoticus Exo, and Isaac Acentino assaulted her with swords. Isaac declared her exiled from New Ides, despite lacking legal authority or jurisdiction.
All six defendants were later seen publicly with Huge Larry, a wanted felon. The consolidated charges, under the Criminal Code Act, were:
- Assault (1-LCC § 4.1.2.1). Charged against Huge Larry, Exoticus Exo, and Isaac Acentino.
- Battery (1-LCC § 4.1.2.2). Charged against Huge Larry, Exoticus Exo, and Isaac Acentino.
- Unlawful Assembly (1-LCC § 4.3.1.2). Charged against all six defendants.
- Treason (1-LCC § 4.4.1.2). Charged against Exoticus Exo and Isaac Acentino for the symbolic exile of a royal citizen, and additionally charged against Huge Larry for his earlier claim of personal sovereignty over New Terranova.
- Trespass (1-LCC § 4.2.2.2, two counts) and Criminal Mischief (1-LCC § 4.2.3.2, three counts). Retained against Huge Larry from the earlier unprocessed case (572-LIR-NT) for his entries into Dominion Hall and his defacement of state signage.
- Aiding and Abetting the Escape of a Known Felon (derived under 1-LCC § 4.4.1.2 and § 4.2.2.1). Charged against Exoticus Exo and Isaac Acentino.
Jurisdiction was claimed under 1-LCC § 5.3 on three grounds: that the victim was a royal citizen of the Empire, that the incident took place on unclaimed land lacking sovereign judicial protections, and that New Ides under Isaac Acentino was structurally incapable of impartial justice given its alignment with the Larry Cult and its lack of a codified legal system.
Trial and Breakdown
The trial, overseen by the New Terranova Imperial Court under the Lilaris Department of Justice Act and the Imperial Charter, descended quickly into chaos. Isaac Acentino, a co-defendant, served as defense counsel. He drank openly during proceedings and verbally attacked the prosecution. A recess was declared to assess his sobriety, which was confirmed by the presiding magistrate. The court suspended the trial pending resumption at a later date. Before it could resume, every defendant was dead.
Suspended Without Resolution
The case was never reconvened. With every named defendant killed in The Night of the Veil, the proceeding had no defendants to try and no convictions to record. The filing remained on the docket as a suspended matter for the remainder of the epoch.
Empress Kara A. Ehrveil withdrew from public life in the strike’s aftermath; her father, Isaac Acentino, had been among the eight killed. Governance shifted temporarily to Nordvik Alvaldi through the mourning period. Riven Skorne assumed leadership of New Ides within days and began the political work of distancing the duchy from the Larrist regime that had captured it under Isaac.
The legal substance of the case, including the consolidated charges and the constitutional questions raised by the Empire’s claim of jurisdiction over events on unclaimed land, has been the subject of academic analysis in the years since. None of that analysis has produced a settled verdict, because no verdict was ever entered.
Trivia
- The trial was the first in Imperial history where a sitting defendant acted as counsel and was nearly held in contempt for intoxication.
- For the assassinations that ended the case, see The Night of the Veil.
- For the legal filing itself, see Case Filing - The People v. Huge Larry.