London legal representatives hard at work on Nightman case

Lantern News Network - Philadelphia

Word has arrived that members of Lord Nigel Woodard's London legal staff have arrived safely in St. Joseph, where they are conferring with their client, Hekration. While the bulk of the legal staff sent by Lord Woodard has remained in Philadelphia to build their case, two members of the legal team arrived in St. Joseph a few days ago and began the process of preparing the Nightman leader for his defense. Within hours of their arrival, a message was transmitted from St. Joseph. "Hekration remains under guard by members of His Majesty's Frontier Corps, as he has since his reappearance in St. Joseph two months ago. His whereabouts have never been in question, nor has he made any attempt to hide his presence since."

The fact that he was under guard by members of His Majesty's Army came as a shock to many. A member of the Philadelphia Parliament complained, "How is it that this man has been under the control of his Majesty's government and no one has been the wiser?"

But another voice was more vociferous in his language. "Why is he not in Philadelphia in chains! There will be a damned investigation into the Army and the Frontier Corps about this. There are Army officers who are allowing a murderer to wander free committing acts of sedition while they stand by and watch? This isn't just incompetence, it's treason!"

A spokesman for the Army stated, "We will be looking into the allegations that the Frontier Corps has been hiding Hekration. But, after reviewing their standing orders, issued before General Wade left his post, they have been following them to the letter. They state that should the accused return to St. Joseph, he was to be contained, and all reasonable action be taken to ensure that he did not escape. They have done that."

Lord Woodard's legal team has revealed that they have been legally blocking attempts to extradite Hekration for over a month, even before Lord Woodard announced his involvement. The extradition has been blocked for what seems a truly astounding reason, given the charges the Nightman faces.

The buttress of their case against Hekration's extradition is that he has in the past acted as an agent of the British Army, seeing to the Crown's interests in the Nightlands. The fact that he is currently engaged in critical negotiations which impact the safety of British America as a whole means he cannot be removed.

High ranking Army officers have confirmed that these negotiations are indeed critical.

The argument of his status, which blocks his extradition to Philadelphia is sure to take weeks at the very least to sort out.