Is it ever explained why Kirk was not prosecuted after he stole and destroyed the Enterprise in "search for Spock"?
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** I am normally not a praying man, but if you are up there, please save me Superman **
Have you seen the end of The Voyage Home? The hearing at the end is about exactly those charges.
shareYes, perhaps i should have explained myself: I saw it decades ago so I cannot really remember. However, I just saw "search of Spock" and so wondered if the issue was ever addressed and if so how?
shareAllright, spoilers ahead:
Rear Admiral Kirk is demoted to Captain for disobeying a direct order from his most senior superior officer Fleet Admiral Morrow, Commander of Starfleet in ST3:TSfS. All other charges, theft and destruction of Federation property etc, against everyone else are dropped for saving the Earth for the umpteenth time.
What I don't like about Kirk's enthusiasm on his demotion is that he could have commanded starships as an admiral, albeit in larger formations; naval officers on Earth tend to do at least some of their commanding from ships even in peace time, and his or her command ship is known as the flag ship. So as a fan of the franchise I'm not a fan of Kirk's demotion or the need for it. "Thanks for saving us, have a punishment."
Suprise! Nothing to see here
Thank you.
Obviously him disobeying has to have consequences of some sorts. And a demotion to where he really shines the most anyways, is a small price to pay imo. We all know his intentions were good, but they cannot have a renegade commander running around like it is his own play house. He came out as the hero but only because of sheer luck. Had Doc Brown not been on the hunt for the Genesis, he would have been nothing but a mere carjacker... albeit now he is carjacker and a hero.
Another reason why we need the commanders to follow rank is that they are on a need to know basis. And Kirk does not know everything, even his immediate superior doesn't know everything. Perhaps him and his talents were needed for something of greater importance that was brewing at the time... "earth is under attack, inform the officers, we go to defcon 5".... "where is Kirk???".... "KKkkiirrrkkhaaannnnnnnkkkk".. "dut dut dut". This was not the case, but it could have been. Anyways, forgive my rant. Thanx for the summary.
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** I am normally not a praying man, but if you are up there, please save me Superman **
I'm surprised Kirk wasn't charged with murder for killing Kruge and all those Klingons, as well as kidnapping Maltz and stealing Klingon property (namely the Bird of Prey). Technically, the Federation wasn't at war with the Klingons at that point and Kirk had gone rogue and was acting against orders. So the Klingons would've been well within their rights to ask the Federation to extradite Kirk for the murder, kidnapping and theft charges. Whether they would have extradited him or not is another matter.
shareBúllshït.
The Klingons had invaded Federation territory, which is an act of war. They had already fired on and killed the crew of a Federation ship, another act of war.
The Federation was already at war with the Klingons by virtue of that. They just decided not to continue the fighting and ignore the incident. The US and the Soviets fired on each other multiple times during the Cold War and decided not to escalate.
You can't murder enemy combatants unless they've already surrendered to you and in your custody.
share
successor13326 wrote:
I'm surprised Kirk wasn't charged with murder for killing Kruge and all those Klingons, as well as kidnapping Maltz and stealing Klingon property (namely the Bird of Prey). Technically, the Federation wasn't at war with the Klingons at that point and Kirk had gone rogue and was acting against orders. So the Klingons would've been well within their rights to ask the Federation to extradite Kirk for the murder, kidnapping and theft charges. Whether they would have extradited him or not is another matter.
Yes, and No
Kruge, like the Betor Sisters & Nero of the Romulans, seem to act outside of their government interests or orders... usually for self gain disguised as 'honor'
When its convenient the Klingon Empire would use Kruge's and crew's death as a way to make the Federation look bad, as with the trial, or disavow them entirely if they had really screwed up
Frankly, John Schuck's arguments against Kirk are pretty ridiculous and I doubt that anyone took them seriously. The death of Kruge's crew is not brought up in Kirk's trial in TVH.
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Bob the Builder and Hadji walk into a bar...
Yeah, but you're forgetting something. No war was officially declared. Also, as soon as Kirk went rogue, he was no longer acting under lawful Federation orders. And all the acts he committed after stealing the Enterprise were not sanctioned by the Federation.
So under the law, Kirk is a rogue officer who is guilty of murder, piracy and attacking another vessel. Of course the Federation president and government decided to conveniently not bring that point up and/or sweep it all under the rug when they exonerated Kirk at the end of Star Trek IV.
Kirk ordered the destruction of the Enterprise, and was charged with that. He did not order the Klingons to board her, which they had no legal right to do anyway. As for Kruge, you can easily argue self-defense, especially after Kirk tries to pull him up and Kruge counters by trying to pull him down.
20 Fake CJs Ignored (and counting)