“Owwwww!  Let go of me, you flatfoots!  That caped creep is lying through his teeth!  What kind of kangaroo court is this?”

 

“I told you to keep a civil tongue in your head, Luthor, and warned you of what would happen if you didn’t.  Baliffs, take him back to the reformatory.”

 

“You’ll all be sorry!  I’ll get you all!  You haven’t heard the last of Lex Luthor!”

 

“We have for to-day, young man!”

 

“Your honour, I apologise for my client’s behaviour, but I fear that having him hauled off this way, in the custody of officers, may prejudice the jury.”

 

“Don’t even go there, Mr. Aldrich.  Are you ready to begin your cross-examination?”

 

“Yes, sir, I am.”

 

“Very well.  Superboy, I remind you that you are still under oath.”

 

 

 

Cross-Examination of Superboy:

“First, Superboy, let me thank you for the invaluable service you’ve provided to the citizens of Smallville, as well as to our nation, and to the very world.  I want you to know I mean that.”

 

“Thank you, Mr. Aldrich.  I try to do what I can.”

 

“You’re being modest, son.  I couldn’t begin to count the number of lives you’ve saved.  You’re not just the protector of Smallville; you’re the defender of the Earth.”

 

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, sir, was help people.”

 

“’Help people.’  Well, there’s no denying you’ve done that.  But tell me---what’s it feel like to be world famous?”

 

“World famous?  I don’t know if I’d go as far to say----“

 

“Oh, come now, Superboy.  They’ve erected statues of you---there’s one in Smallville Park.  Stores sell imitations of your costume for Hallowe’en.  There’s even a town named after you---Superboy City.”

 

“Well, it’s only natural that people in the local areas----“

 

“Local areas?  Your honour, I have a report here from the county postmaster, Thad Becker, that I would like to enter into evidence.

 

“May I have a look at that, Mr. Aldrich?”

 

“Certainly, Mr. Barton.”

 

“Any objections from the defence?”

 

“No, sir.  The defence stipulates to its authenticity and contents.”

 

“In that case, it is so ordered that the report be marked as evidence.”

 

“Thank you, your honour.  Now, Superboy, this report from Mr. Becker states that his post office receives over fifteen hundred letters a month sent to you.  Some are addressed simply ‘Superboy, Smallville, U.S.A.’  Fifteen hundred letters a month!  If we can believe The World Almanac, that’s more mail than is sent to Clark Gable or Shirley Temple or even the President of the United States.

 

“And not all of it comes from America.  According to Mr. Becker, there have been letters sent from as far away as England, France, Germany, Japan, Burma, Indonesia, and Australia.  Certainly, son, that constitutes being world famous.”

 

“I guess it does.”

 

“Many national newspapers---The Daily Planet, for one---have called you ‘the World’s Greatest Hero’.  Certainly you take some pleasure in that.”

 

“It would be only natural for me to be flattered by it, Mr. Aldrich.  But it’s not as satisfying as you assume.”

 

“Oh, come on.  All of the accolades, the honours, the attention---isn’t it thrilling?

 

“No, sir.  It’s not a thrill; it’s a responsibility.  Yes, I’ve been fortunate enough to be gifted with super-powers, powers that have enabled me to save hundreds of lives.  Thousands, maybe.  I can do more than anyone else on Earth and that has been an awesome burden.”

 

“How so?”

 

“I don’t mean to say that the public isn’t grateful for what I’ve done.  They are.  You’ve pointed that out.  But they also expect more of me, as well.  If a cruise liner sinks at sea, or if a fire destroys a town, people look at me and ask “Why didn’t you save them?”  A policeman or a fireman is allowed to be off duty sometimes, but not me.”

 

“You sound resentful, Superboy.  You don’t like being criticised by your adoring public, do you?

 

“Resentful?  No, Mr. Aldrich, not at all.  You’re not grasping what I’m trying to tell you.  It isn’t the public that puts this weight on my shoulders.  It’s me.  When that ship sinks at sea or that town burns to the ground, nobody criticises me harder for not saving them than I do myself.  When The Daily Planet calls me ‘the World’s Greatest Hero’, I don’t take that much pride or pleasure in it---because I always know that I could have done more.”

 

“Well . . .er . . . uh . . . .”

 

“This line of questioning not going where you expected, Mr. Aldrich?”

 

“Er . . . Superboy, l’d like to bring up another matter.”

 

“A wise move, counsellor.”

 

“You testified that, on the day you met Lex Luthor, he saved your life from a green-kryptonite meteor, and in gratitude, you constructed for him a modern laboratory.  And you stocked it with all of the elements you felt he might need to conduct his experiments---including some rare chemicals with properties unknown even to you.  Is that correct?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

“Wasn’t that taking a terrible risk?  Putting unknown substances, substances that for all you knew could have been extremely hazardous, in the hands of an amateur scientist?  One who, as Mr. Barton pointed out, didn’t even possess the proper academic credentials.”

 

“But Lex has a brilliant mind.”

 

“But you didn’t know that at the time, did you, Superboy?  You knew that there was potential danger in those unknown chemicals.  In fact, you warned him about them, did you not?”

 

“I did, yes.”

 

“Would you repeat for the court, as best you can recall with your super-memory, exactly what you said to warn Lex Luthor about the possible danger?”

 

“I said, ‘One word of caution!  Be careful with these unknown chemicals!  You’re young, inexperienced . . . .’.”

 

“’Young.’  ‘Inexperienced.’  Sounds to me like providing Lex Luthor with those unknown, potentially dangerous chemicals was no different than giving a loaded gun to an eager youngster who wants to play cowboy!”

 

“Objection!  Inflammatory!”

 

“Sustained.”

 

“Did you inform young Luthor’s parents of your deed, Superboy?  Did you ask their permission before building it?”

 

“No, sir.”

 

“Then, for all you knew, his parents wouldn’t have approved of it.”

 

“They never approached me about it, afterward.”

 

“You’re not so easy to get ahold of, son.”

 

 

 

“Let’s move on.  We heard Fire Chief Hogan testify that you received no training from him, or from anyone in his department, on proper fire-fighting techniques.  Is that correct?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Have you ever received any professional training in dealing with fires?”

 

“No, sir.”

 

“How many structural fires have you extinguished or responded to in some other action?”

 

“I don’t know the exact number.  Probably dozens.”

 

“You admit you have no professional training, yet you feel qualified in putting out structural fires by yourself.”

 

“First, as Chief Hogan said, if his department was already on scene, I let them handle the business of putting out the fire.  But, thanks to my invulnerability, I was able to rescue anyone trapped inside.”

 

“And if the fire department wasn’t on the scene?”

 

“Then I had to take action to save lives and property.  It was an emergency.  And, no, I’m not a trained fireman.  But I spent years training myself in the proper use of my super-powers.  And so did the people who raised me.  I didn’t reveal myself publically until I had absolutely mastered my powers and knew how to employ them under a variety of conditions.”

 

“Did the people who raised you have any specific knowledge in the professional fire-fighting?”

 

“No, they didn’t.”

 

“Then it’s fair to say that you’re just an amateur.”

 

“An amateur---with unique talents.”

 

“You heard Chief Hogan explain the risks to the public in tackling a fire without regard to the presence of dangerous goods.  Do you agree with his professional opinion?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Yet, the day that young Luthor’s laboratory caught fire, you rushed down and blew out the flames with your super-breath, didn’t you?  Despite the fact that you knew there were potentially hazardous substances inside the building.  Substances, in fact, with properties unknown, even to you.”

 

“But it was an emergency!  The life of a friend was at stake.”

 

“Is there any reason why you couldn’t have flown into the lab at super-speed and simply carried Lex away from the fire?”

“Flying at super-speed generates tremendous heat---from the friction of the air.  I’m invulnerable, but a normal human isn’t.  If I had carried Lex out of the lab at super-speed, the friction heat would have burned him as bad, or worse, than the fire would have.”

 

“But you say you have rescued other persons trapped inside burning buildings by flying into them and carrying them out.  Why not Lex Luthor?”

 

“In those cases, I didn’t use my super-speed.  I moved only as swiftly as I could to safely transport the victims out of danger.  And because of that, those people were often burned before I could get them to safety.  Everyone here remembers what happened to Ned Barnes when his home caught fire.  I got poor Ned out of his house as fast as I dared move and he still received terrible burns from the flames.  I didn’t want that to happen to Lex.  My only other option was to blow out the fire with my super-breath.”

 

 

 

“Your super-breath caused a bottle of acid to topple and collide with the retort of kryptonite antidote my client had invented.  The two containers shattered, and when their contents mixed, it created a corrosive cloud that caused Lex’s hair to fall out.  The fumes also destroyed the notes detailing the experiment with which Lex had created an artificial life form.  Setting aside any questions of accidental or deliberate, do you agree with this version of events?”

 

“Yes, I do.”

 

“So---and, again, without regard to whether it was deliberate or not---do you agree that your actions were the proximate cause of those unfortunate results.”

 

“I do.”

 

“Did you have any knowledge of what elements or chemicals Luthor used to create this kryptonite antidote?”

 

“No, sir.  I didn’t even know, at the time, that he had found an antidote.”

 

“So, you had no way to predict what the reaction would be when the acid mixed with the antidote.”

 

“Of course not.  I wasn’t even aware that the two containers had smashed together.”

 

“Then we might say that, in one sense, young Luthor was quite fortunate.  The combination of the acid with the antidote might have created, instead of a ‘corrosive cloud’, a lethal gas.  Or it might even have caused an explosion.”

 

“Yes, that’s possible.”

 

“By the way, Superboy, what happened to those corrosive fumes, the ones that destroyed my client’s notes and caused his hair to fall out?”

 

“I don’t follow you, Mr. Aldrich.”

 

“I’m saying that ‘cloud’ had to have gone somewhere.  It was released after you discharged your super-breath into the lab, so it wasn’t blown away with the fire.  Was it still in the lab when you entered it to check on Lex?”

 

“No, sir.”

 

“Then where did it go?”

 

“Objection!  Calls for speculation.”

 

“I’ll allow it.  You must answer the question, Superboy.”

 

“I---I’m not sure.  I guess it escaped through the open window and dissipated in the air.”

 

“Could the wind have blown it away?  Perhaps in the direction of other homes, or even towards Smallville?”

 

“Possibly.”

 

“But you didn’t check with your super-vision to make sure.”

 

“No . . . I didn’t.  I was too concerned about Lex.”

 

“So, if it had been a cloud of poisonous gas---such as in the Cleveland Clinic disaster mentioned by Chief Hogan---it might have been blown toward a populated area and killed God knows how many people.  That is, for all you know, right, Superboy?”

 

“I guess that’s true.”

 

“So not only did your actions that day cause irreparable harm to my client, the very lives of innocent people could have been endangered, if things had been a bit more unlucky.  I’d call that careless, Superboy.  Wouldn’t you?”

 

“If you want me to say that I made a mistake by not keeping track of that corrosive cloud, Mr. Aldrich, yes, I’ll admit that.  But the actions I took to save Lex’s life were the best ones available to me under the circumstances.  They weren’t careless.”

 

“I'd say that’s for the jury to decide, son.”

 

 

 

 

“Any re-direct, Mr. Barton?”

 

“No, your honour.  That concludes my defence.”

 

“In that case, I’ll hear closing arguments in the final session.  Court is adjourned until then.”

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  • Ah, Commander. brilliant logic and dialogue. If you were writing a comic, I would gladly pay four dollars a month for it with no least qualm, no matter what the book was. I cannot wait for the conclusion of this tale... it's fun!

    x<]:o){

    SAF

  • The plaintiff side's emphasis on Superboy's lack of fire-fighting background arguably undermines its case that Superboy was negligent in relation to the destruction of Luthor's work. Presumably Superboy is not guilty of negligence unless he should have done better. If the work would have been lost anyway, Superboy's actions caused Luthor no loss. The plaintiff side could counter these points by arguing that the fire brigade would otherwise have arrived on time to save Luthor's work, or that Superboy should have fetched the fire fighters and their equipment instead of taking on the task himself.

    In relation to Luthor's disfigurement, Superboy's reference to the Ned Barnes case puts the plaintiff side in the position of needing to argue either that Superboy should have preferred the alternative rescue method even though it might have left Luthor with severe burns, or that he should not have performed the rescue at all because Luthor would have escaped/been saved anyway.

  • I hope you'll follow the finish with the details of who/what/where that you've referenced.


  • Eric L. Sofer said:

    Ah, Commander. brilliant logic and dialogue. If you were writing a comic, I would gladly pay four dollars a month for it with no least qualm, no matter what the book was. I cannot wait for the conclusion of this tale... it's fun!

     

    Fogey, as always, it's a pleasure to hear from you, and I take your comments very kindly. I wind things up in the next instalment, and I hope you take the time to submit your evaluation of the case.


  • Fraser Sherman said:

    I hope you'll follow the finish with the details of who/what/where that you've referenced.

    Believe it or not, Mr. Sherman, that hadn't occurred to me as a thing to do until you mentioned it. The next entry is the final one on this case. How about, right after that, I provide an addendum detailing all of the references I used to accentuate this trial?

  • That would be great, thanks. Superboy's not someone I followed regularly so while I can peg a few references, that's all.

  • Consider it an appointment!

    Commander Benson said:


    Eric L. Sofer said:

    Ah, Commander. brilliant logic and dialogue. If you were writing a comic, I would gladly pay four dollars a month for it with no least qualm, no matter what the book was. I cannot wait for the conclusion of this tale... it's fun!

     

    Fogey, as always, it's a pleasure to hear from you, and I take your comments very kindly. I wind things up in the next instalment, and I hope you take the time to submit your evaluation of the case.

  • It's strange to hear Superboy described as "untrained" and an amateur. I've never seen the Smallville police and fire departments turn down the Boy of Steel's assistance unless it was a plot point of the story. In fact by accepting his aid and letting him operate on site, they, and the county, state and national governments are giving their consent to his activities and granting him some kind of official status.


  • Philip Portelli said:

    It's strange to hear Superboy described as "untrained" and an amateur. I've never seen the Smallville police and fire departments turn down the Boy of Steel's assistance unless it was a plot point of the story. In fact by accepting his aid and letting him operate on site, they, and the county, state and national governments are giving their consent to his activities and granting him some kind of official status.

    Yet, my friend, within the context of the circumstances, the terms "untrained" and "amateur" do apply to the Boy of Steel.

    Over my lifetime, and particularly in preparation for this civil-trial series, I've read a whole heapin' helpin' of Superboy tales, but not all of them.  So I'll readily allow the fact that you might be aware of a particular instance that escaped me, and that caveat applies to all of my following comments.

    I have never read a story in which Superboy received any sort of fire-fighting training, and such a thing did exist back in the 1930's.  By then, municipalities had progressed far beyond bucket brigades; there was training in the "triad of combustion" and in hazmat.  Larger cities had even established "fire colleges" from which prospective firemen had to matriculate.  Since Superboy had never undertaken such training, even informally from the local fire department, then in the matter of fighting fires, he is untrained.

    Additionally, since the Boy of Steel neither possessed the academic credentials to qualify as a fireman, nor was gainfully employed by a fire department, then, by definition, he was an amateur.

    As to the matter of implied consent---and this is where the caveat I mentioned above really comes into play---I didn't come across that many scenes in which Superboy responded to a structural fire at which the fire department was also present. In the few I did find, the opinion of the firemen present was ambiguous, usually because they were part of the background with no speaking lines.  So I wasn't able to state with certainty that the fire department approved of Superboy's actions, tacitly or implicitly.  (You may be aware of a scene that does, however.)

    As to the matter of law enforcement, that's clearer.  Unquestionably, Chief Parker of the Smallville police department not only approved of Superboy's crime-fighting actions, but often solicited them. That doesn't, in and of itself, confer upon Superboy any official status with the police department (or the F.B.I. or any other law-enforcement organisation).  What it does do, however, is render the Boy of Steel as an "agent of the government" with reference to the Constitution.  Especially, the fourth-amendment protections against illegal search and seizure.

    I've discussed this before, with reference to the Batman and Robin.  A private citizen is not bound by the prohibitations of the Constitution.  If Bushrod believes that Argyle is the Smallville Strangler and on his own, with no sanction from law-enforcement, breaks into Argyle's house, finds evidence establishing Argyle's guilt, takes it, and turns it over to the police---then such evidence is legally admissable in a court of law.  As a private citizen, Bushrod was not restricted by the fourth-amendment requirements with regard to search and seizure.  (However, Bushrod may also face charges of breaking-and-entering and larceny for his actions.)

    However, if official law-enforcement solicits or even implicitly condones Bushrod's actions (i.e., the cops knew Bushrod was going to break into Argyle's house to look for evidence and did not attempt to prevent it), then Bushrod becomes an agent of the government and just as subject to the Constitution prohibitions as a badge-carrying officer.  That's why if a cop wants to search your suitcase and none of the Constitutional provisions or exemptions allow it, he cannot just ask a passing private citizen to search it for him.

    Clearly, Superboy is an agent of the government with regards to the Constitution.

    Now, in Superboy's era, especially in rural areas, there were few statutory prerequsities for becoming an official lawman.  (As opposed to to-day, when every state requires an individual complete a background check and a basic law-enforcement curriculum, and every police department imposes even more-stringent qualifications.)  In those days, just being big and tough enough to do the job was usually sufficient.*  So there wouldn't be any lack-of-training issues if Chief Parker had deputised Superboy as a member of his department.  (I never read such a scene in any comics; I'm just saying there was no statutory bar to it at the time.)

    ________________________________________________________

    * Which I can tell you from my days as a police officer, is still pretty much the attitude of the general public with regard to police officers---that all it takes to become a cop is to be tough and, preferably, big; that there is no special intellectual or academic ability required.  And that attitude is fostered by the fact that everybody knows how to do a cop's job---they've learnt it from television, and (insert sarcastic tone here) we all know how accurate police shows on television are.

  • Commander, I think the same attitude used to exist toward nurses. TV usually portrayed them as pretty girls who took your temperature and wrapped you in bandages, not people with serious professional skills. So all you really needed to do was look pretty (or tough and grumpy if you were older). Medical shows I think have changed that dynamic.

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