The trial: May 15, 1966
The defender
Your honor, Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the facts and you have heard the testimony of Iris Luna Celati.
Iris Luna Celati does not perceive the world the way you and I do. She suffers from an acute mental illness which alters her spatial and temporal perceptions. Iris Luna Celati believes she belongs to another century and another continent!
If you ask Iris Luna Celati who she is, she will depict herself as a character who you might have read about in a fairy tale as a kid, or perhaps in a novel. Iris Luna Celati is unaware of her own identity! I have already interrogated Iris Luna Celati to prove this aspect, but you are more than welcome to repeat this exercise to convince yourself.
If you asked Iris Luna Celati who you are, she will portray you with vivid fantasy, and you will gasp with bewildered surprise at your own portrait. Will you recognize yourself in that portrait? I challenge you to! Iris Luna Celati’s vision of those who surround her is as distorted as the vision of herself.
Of all the witnesses you have listened to, Iris Luna Celati is the one who without any doubt damaged her own reputation the most. I already highlighted the doubts, the shades and omissions, undeniably weakening the reliability of all testimonies but one. The testimony of Iris Luna Celati.
Iris Luna Celati’s testimony is an unconfutable proof of her guilt.
But is it? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, your honour, is it?
If the answer to this question is yes, then you must accept to view yourself as a lady or a gentleman from the 18th century, because this is who you are to Iris Luna Celati! Remember her testimony, all of it!
When I asked Iris Luna Celati, “Who do you see in this court?”, what was her answer? “I see the same people Iryssa saw on May 15, 1866”
I see the same people Iryssa saw in 1866!
When I asked Iris Luna Celati the cause of her actions she told me that a man named Cesar Mercury is.
Is this true? Nobody knows because Cesar Mercury is nowhere to be found!
Ladies and gentleman of the jury, your honour, the only guilt Iris Celati can be accused of is mental weakness. And for this guilt she should not be punished, but rather receive compassionate help in an appropriate institution. I confide in the law and in your well-pondered judgment.
The Judge
Does the defendant have anything to add?
Iris Luna Celati
I am sinful, not crazy, and you must punish me for my sins.