Murder~ Of the Future

The spectators in the courtroom sat silently. The chair legs screeched against the hard wood floor as Henry pushed backwards and rose from his seat.

He walked to the front of the room to take the stand in his own defense. He cleared his throat and raised his right hand. Beads of sweat formed on his balding scalp and shimmered under the warm lights.

“Do you swear to tell the truth...,” the Bailiff’s voice droned on, “so help you God?”

“Yes, I do.”

Henry Ratcliff’s attorney, Larry Rice, paced in front of him. His hands were folded in the small of his back. “Mr. Ratcliff, I’ll ask what everyone here wants to know. Did you murder your wife and two children?”

Henry cleared his throat. “I didn’t kill anyone; I only disabled the AI family that I purchased some twelve years ago. They were only robots.”

Gasps floated throughout the room.

The judge banged his gavel three times before the room became silent. “I demand silence in my courtroom.”

Larry took his seat. “I have no more questions, Your Honor.”

“Your witness, Prosecutor Kamen.” The judge motioned for him to come forward.

Henry studied the prosecutor. Kamen's perfect hair contained not one strand daring to rise up and his flawless skin, almost doll-like, told Henry that he was one of them. Kamen was too perfect to be human.

Kamen uncovered an easel that sat in front of the courtroom. A huge crime scene photo showed several sizes of limbs sticking out of a cardboard box. “Mr. Ratcliff is this what detectives discovered in your basement after neighbors reported your wife and children missing?”

“Yes,” Henry whispered.

“Speak up, please.”

“Y-yes it is,” Henry almost shouted.

“So, you dismembered your family, removed their memory chips, thus rendering them unable to live. Then you shoved your family into a cardboard box?” Kamen strutted in front of the jury using exaggerated hand gestures as he spoke. “Then, sir, did you hide this box in the basement of your house?”

“NO!” Henry jumped up. “They were only robots. I, I didn’t need them anymore. I met Janice, a real flesh and blood woman, don’t you see? I wasn’t lonely anymore, I found human companionship.” Henry sat down and covered his face.

“Mr. Ratcliff, I am an AI. So, if I feel you aren’t needed, can I murder you because you are different than I?”

“No, of course not. I’m a human being, flesh and blood. I have feelings, emotions.”

“I’m sure the AI’s here today would agree that we are more than robots. Yes, we have artificial intelligence, but we have also evolved, and now we possess many of the same emotions as human beings.” Kamen stopped in front of Henry. “So, I ask you again, Mr.Ratcliff, are you guilty of murder?”

“No, the AI’s can be brought back, but a human-- a human can’t.”

Kamen stood in front of the jury box. “That’s where you’re wrong. Lucy, Tommy, and little Ellen cannot be brought back. Once you’ve taken out their memory chip it can’t be replaced. Yes, some of their parts can be recycled, but your family will never live again.”

Henry whispered to the judge, “Your Honor, I didn’t kill anyone. Please, you’ve got understand–“

“That’ll be up the jury, not me.”

Kamen took his seat. “The prosecution rests, Your Honor.”

The judge gave the jury their instructions and sent them to deliberate.

Henry was shackled and led back to his cell. There, he waited only an hour before an officer came to take him back to the courtroom.

The officer opened the cell. “The jury’s back. Let’s go.” He shackled Henry’s arms and legs and led him back to face his fate.

Henry sat quietly. It all felt like a dream, until the jury foreman announced the verdict. “On the count of murder in the first degree, we find the defendant, Henry Ratcliff, guilty.”

Guilty? Henry broke out into a cold sweat. His legs felt weak, but he stood strong while the judge handed down his sentence. “Henry, since you show no remorse for what you’ve done, you will be given the harshest sentence allowed by law. You will be sentenced to death according to the stipulations of the new Eye for Eye Execution Law. Mr. Ratcliff, you will be dismembered and have your memory chip removed.”

“NO! I’m not an AI. You can’t use their laws against me. I have a brain, not a memory chip. I'm human–”
The judges slammed his gavel. “Mr. Ratcliff, you murdered members of the AI community, and under the new laws, you will be sentenced accordingly. Your date of execution will be set for tomorrow at eight a.m. This court is dismissed.”

On August 15, 3010, Henry Ratcliff, became the first human to be executed under the new AI laws. He was dismembered. His brain removed. His body parts were then placed in a box and by request of his flesh and blood wife, Janice, the remains were released to her for a proper human burial.
AI’s protested outside the church during Henry’s memorial service. They believed Henry’s genetic material did not make him anymore important than those that he had murdered, and they did not believe he deserved the respect and admiration of a traditional human burial.