Here's a pretty hardcore case of fantasy becoming reality. Last week, The Wrap reported that a Lawyer in Staten Island, New York demanding the city supreme court settle his case via a trial by combat. The practice, which has been around since ancient times, was made famous in popular culture via HBO's smash hit fantasy drama 'Game of Thrones.'
The defendant, Richard Luthmann, is facing fraud accusations. Being a fan of the show, he thought the best way that his case be settled was through a one on one fight to the death.
"Defendant invokes the common law writ of right and demands his common law right to Trial By Combat as against plaintiffs and their counsel, whom plaintiff wishes to implead into the Trial By Combat by writ of right," the court filing states.
Luthmann argues that the practice has never been formally outlawed in America, and cites instances in history when it has been used:
"Since [1776], no American court in post-independence United States to the undersigned's knowledge has addressed the issue, and thus the trial by combat remains a right reserved to the people and a valid alternative to civil action," Luthmann writes in his argument.
According to Game of Thrones resource, 'A Wiki Of Ice and Fire', a Trial by combat can be requested:
- May be requested at any point before or during a trial.
- May be advised against, but even sovereign lords and members of the royal family rarely consider denying such a request outright.
- May be converted into a trial of seven if the accuser (or, presumably, the accused) so demands. Available evidence suggests that this request, too, cannot be denied without severe political consequences. In any case, trials of seven are exceedingly rare, happening perhaps less often than once in a century.
- May be fought by the parties themselves, but it is not unusual for either or both parties to choose champions to fight in their stead.
- Ends when either party yields or is killed; or when the accuser takes back his accusation; or (presumably) when the accused declares himself guilty.
