History Main / FantasticLegalWeirdness

* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E08Dax Dax]]" has the Klaestrons try to extradite Jadzia Dax to try her for a murder allegedly committed by the Dax symbiont's previous host Curzon. Ben Sisko argues extensively that Jadzia and Curzon are not the same person[[note]]Joined Trill with the same symbiont have different personalities and by Trill tradition are considered different individuals, despite one having the memories of the other.[[/note]] and therefore Jadzia can't be tried in place of Curzon, though the entire proceeding is rendered moot by Odo proving Curzon had an alibi.

* Given it's universe is largely dominated by a {{Society of Immortal|s} [[{{Transhumanism}} Transhumanist]] SpaceElves who consider oaths and contracts to be the cornerstone of civilization, the ''Literature/{{Eldraeverse}}'' frequently examines how various matters of law might work out in a society where death as we know it is more of an inconvenience.

* In ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' one of the protagonist's major hurdles is that it's nigh-impossible to force a psychopath with a CompellingVoice (Jessica's nemesis the Purple Man) to stand trial, especially when most people don't believe that his powers are real.

* The basis of the film ''Film/MinorityReport'' (and the Creator/PhilipKDick ShortStory it was based on) is a system called Precrime that uses {{precognition}} to alert homicide cops to murders before they happen, letting them charge and convict the suspect of first-degree murder before the crime actually takes place (which evidently took law changes or else the suspect could only be charged with attempted murder). Precrime procedures include having two judges monitoring the investigation by video conference. The legal ramifications are {{discussed}} early on: it's noted that the American Civil Liberties Union considers the system unconstitutional, though protagonist John Anderton insists that just because you stopped the murder from happening doesn't change that it ''would've'' happened.

* The basis of the film ''Film/MinorityReport'' (and the Creator/PhilipKDick ShortStory it was based on) is a system called Precrime that uses {{precognition}} to alert homicide cops to murders before they happen, letting them charge and convict the suspect of first-degree murder before the crime actually takes place. The legal ramifications are {{discussed}} early on: it's noted that the American Civil Liberties Union considers the system unconstitutional, though protagonist John Anderton insists that just because you stopped the murder from happening doesn't change that it ''would've'' happened, and Precrime procedures include having two judges monitoring the investigation by video conference.

* This is OlderThanRadio. Creator/ThomasPaine briefly wonders about the risen saints mentioned in [[Literature/TheBible the Gospel of Matthew]]: did they try to reclaim their property and spouses, or just go back into their graves after walking around Jerusalem? The Gospel [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse doesn't say]].

* In ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' one of the protagonist's major hurdles is that it's nigh-impossible to force a psychopath with a CompellingVoice to stand trial, especially when most people don't believe that his powers are real.

* One of the established rules of Earth Alliance law in ''Series/BabylonFive'' is that evidence obtained via {{telepathy}} is not admissible in legal proceedings.

* The ''{{Eberron}}'' sourcebook ''Sharn: City of Towers'' has a Law and Order chapter which specifies among other things that the use of various forms of mind control magic is considered a form of fraud, witness stands are commonly placed upon diases enchanted to make it harder for a witness to knowingly lie (and witnesses are required to relieve themselves of any items that may help them resist such magic before taking the stand), and Bestow Curse is among the range of punishments in use against repeat offenders.

* In Dragon Ball Z The Abridged Series, Krillin tries to scam his insurance company by collecting a life insurance policy after he died and was wished back to life with the Dragonballs. It doesn't end well.

** One of the show's funny moments is a glimpse of the station's courtroom that is completely unrelated to the episode's plot, where a human is suing a Vree (one of the show's alien species, which visually resembles The Greys and InUniverse are the reason this Ufology belief exists) for reparations because the Vree's ancestor [[AlienAbduction abducted]] ''his'' ancestor (the Vree's defense essentially is that all Vree look alike, while the man boasts of having apparently bullet-proof evidence that identifies said Vree's ancestor as the one who did the abduction). The judge's response is essentially to roll his eyes and allow them (and their lawyers) to bicker and wait for everybody to cool down before he can pass sentence.

* In one ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' storyline, the lawyer defending a mobster who had murdered someone in front of dozens of witnesses used a "superhero defense", pointing out known cases of crimes actually committed the accused's {{evil twin}} from [[AlternateUniverse another dimension]], supposedly dead people [[UnexplainedRecovery getting up and walking away]] none the worse for wear, etc. Between the [[RefugeInAudacity sheer audacity]] of the argument and a mood of public guilt over the recent condemnation of the hero Silver Agent (who had been framed for murdering a supervillain who turned out to be very much alive), it worked.

* Two of {{Creator/RobertJSawyer}}'s books feature this. In ''Mind Scan'', there's a trial over whether or not a character who uploaded her consciousness into an android body can still be considered the same person, or legally dead, with her property going to her son. ''Illegal Alien'' involves a milder example, with an alien charged in the murder of a human.
* Creator/ThomasPaine briefly wonders about the risen saints mentioned in [[Literature/TheBible the Gospel of Matthew]]: did they try to reclaim their property and spouses, or just go back into their graves after walking around Jerusalem? The Gospel [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse doesn't say]].

* In ''Film/{{Rashomon}}'', one of the witnesses at a murder trial is a medium speaking on behalf of the victim. It doesn't actually help much; in this case, there was never any question about who killed him and the hearing is more about why and whether there were mitigating circumstances, on which which points the victim is just as self-centered and unreliable as all the other witnesses.

* In the ''Literature/AnitaBlake'' series, Anita's day job as an [[AnimateDead animator]] often involves raising the dead to settle estate matters. Zombies can be raised to settle things like disputes over which version of a will is accurate or not, but they make terrible witnesses in court cases, since they can really only respond to the animator who raised them, and the animator has to ask very specific questions, thus opening to objections for leading the witness. Zombies are also useless when they've been murdered, as a murdered zombie will, no matter how powerful the animator who raised them is, beeline straight for their murderer and attempt to kill them. Might be useful for the police to track down the killer, but not exactly admissible evidence in a court of law (to say nothing of potential countersuits for siccing a mad zombie on someone without due process).

* The series ''Series/CenturyCity'' was completely structured around the legal struggles of various people TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, anything from the legality of cloning a child (the original was long dead, and it was well-accepted that it would only biologically be the same) to a baseball pitcher that got a cybernetic eye to replace one lost in an accident being kicked out of his team (because of the belief that the eye was an unfair advantage) and in an unproduced episode a scientist taking CureYourGays to the most literal extreme (having created a procedure that could be applied to unborn children that would reduce the possibilities of them becoming gay when they aged; and essentially dooming alternate lifestyles to extinction if it became wide-spread).

* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E08Dax Dax]]" has the Klaestrons try to extradite Jadzia Dax to try her for a murder allegedly committed by the Dax symbiont's previous host Curzon. Ben Sisko argues extensively that Jadzia and Curzon are not the same person[[note]]By Trill tradition, joined Trill with the same symbiont are considered different individuals and have different personalities. Despite Jadzia having Curzon's memories via Dax, she is legally a different person by Trill law.[[/note]] and therefore Jadzia can't be tried in place of Curzon, though the entire proceeding is rendered moot by Odo proving Curzon had an alibi.

* The ''{{Eberron}}'' sourcebook ''Sharn: City of Towers'' has a Law and Order chapter which specifies among other things that the use of various forms of mind control magic is considered a form of fraud, witness stands are commonly placed upon diases enchanted to make it harder for a witness to knowingly lie (and witnesses are required to relieve themselves of any items that may help them resist its power before taking the stand), and Bestow Curse is among the range of punishments in use against repeat offenders.

* Jennifer Walters aka ComicBook/SheHulk is a professional lawyer when not superheroing, and the Dan Slott and Charles Soule runs on her solo title, in particular, concentrated on weird legal issues such as somebody suing for compensation because they didn't like the results of their accidental SuperheroOrigin, or Dr. Doom's son claiming political asylum after a fight with his dad.

* In ''Fanfic/AGoodCompromise'', Jolin Tabris, a Trill lawyer, is fighting a probate case against a joined Trill whose previous host illegally bequeathed half his estate to his next host. Tyria Sark suggests the symbiont is trying to take the case constitutional, and Jolin says he might cite legal precedent to get the will thrown out, namely the case from the last time the same symbiont tried this stunt.

* A short story in the anthology ''Blood Lite III: Aftertaste'' takes place post-ZombieApocalypse. The zombies targeted lawyers and politicians first, and got all the laws changed to grant themselves rights. The protagonist is a ghost that uses this precedent to assert possession rights on his former home and evict the current tenants, and [[spoiler:uses ''that'' precedent to then possess his zombie lawyer and regain a body--zombies are easier to possess than living humans]].

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