Davison Trials of 1399

The Davison Trials were a series of High Court and Senatorial trials held by Picketralia from January 17, 1399 - December 27, 1399. Led by Prosecutor General Daris Davison, it's primary goal was to combat corruption within the Picketralian government, and demonstrate to the world and Picketralia's allies that its long criticized judicial system did indeed work.

Background

The 1390s were an especially turbulent decade for Picketralian politics and government. On December 18, 1391, senior Belleisle Party official and Snowdon County representative Ray Veltin revoked the lease that the Picketralian Copper Mining & Extraction Company had on the Kronx Islands in the northernmost part of the country. He opened a lease with a smaller mining company, the V.G. Jeuriv Mining Company. It was later revealed that the V.G. Jeuriv Mining Company had made a considerable campaign donation years prior. PCMEC sued Veltin and the Belleisle Party and their case was heard in the High Court of Picketralia on February 18, 1392. On February 21, 1392, the High Court announced that they sided with PCMEC and Ray Veltin soon resigned from office. However, no criminal charges were filed until 1398.

In late 1395, rural mail carriers for Flourtess County went on strike, protesting low wages and terrible working conditions. However, Maiman Party VP of Worker Outreach, Rahna Bash, had paid the Letter Carriers Guild hundreds of thousands of emeralds to encourage carriers to go on strike and receive an endorsement from the guild. When this was revealed in early March 1396, many believed that the entire strike was a fabrication to earn more votes, and Maiman Party polling suffered severely, with the Letter Carriers Guild losing support of PikPost. They were also not invited to attend negotiations to end the strike that month; the strike ended on March 28, 1396.

In June of 1396, Picketralia, under edict of King Mason I, conquered the rest of the Righteous Lands that had been promised to them in the Treaty of Pafalia in 978, when they gained independence from Railtown. That same day, the Kingdom of Frankfurt purchased a large swath of land just west of Stimpton's old border to construct Estalia Estates at 300 West Road, which would become the tallest building in the world. Many believed that King Frank V of Frankfurt had paid King Mason I possibly millions of diamonds to do this, as King Mason I had vehemently promised to not conquer the land for much of his earlier life (he was 85) and Frankfurt would make a lot of money with the building. After King Mason I's death in 1400, controversy ensued over whether King Mason I was losing his capacities or had intentionally conquered the land for monetary gain. Nevertheless, he was never put to trial.