Court Cases

Court Cases are a Distraction and Diversion that is accessible after completing the King's Ransom quest. Players also require 65 Attack if they wish to prosecute, or 65 Defence to defend during the case. The first court case can be tackled for free, but players must obtain a court summons to attempt court cases thereafter. Court Cases have a variety of rewards, including a total of 142,000 combat experience if all cases are completed.

Getting started

The courthouse.

Players can take on their first court case immediately after the completion of King's Ransom by talking to the clerk in the Seers' Village Courthouse. The clerk will give the player their first case which also acts as a tutorial, Mugger v. Roger Murray.

After completing this initial case, players must find court summons in order to tackle further cases.

For general assistance in completing cases, see Completing cases below. For simple guides on each specific case, see Cases below.

Court summons

Main article: Court summons

A court summons interface.

Court summons are necessary in order to tackle court cases after the first case has been completed.

Court summons can only be obtained if the player does not have an active court case, does not already have a court summons and has completed King's Ransom. They can be obtained through a variety of means:

• Monster drops
• Pickpocketing
• A drop from caskets
• A reward from hard or elite clue scrolls
• A reward from the Giant Oyster
• Dwarven instinct aura

Completing cases

When a player has a court summons, they can start the case by talking to the Clerk in the Seers' Village Courthouse and choose either to defend (requires 65 Defence) or to prosecute (requires 65 Attack). This choice will affect how the events of the case play out and the actions the player must take to succeed, but do not affect final rewards.

Pre-trial

Players should begin each case by taking any relevant documents from the filing cabinet. These include:

• Up to 3  Case reports. The contents of the reports can differ from case to case, but can include:
  • A fingerprint report, which players can use to match fingerprints to help their chances in the courtroom.
  • A circumstances and evidence report, which details the circumstances surrounding the case and any relevant evidence.
  • A Character background report, which contains background information on any characters relating to the case.
• A  crime scene viewing orb and  magnifying glass which can be used to inspect the crime scene for further clues.

Matching the fingerprints.

Once these items have been obtained, there are a number of activities a player can carry out before the trial, depending on their current case. The player should first read all court documents in order to learn the details of the case, as well as match any fingerprints. The court documents will often inform the player of which characters can be interviewed prior to the trial, as well as the location of the characters in question.

It is also possible, in some cases, to inspect the crime scene using the crime scene viewing orb. When inspecting a crime scene, players can use the magnifying glass to closely inspect certain objects and find additional clues which may help in the trial.

It is usually not necessary to perform every possible action before the trial, but each action taken can open up new arguments or interview questions during the trial, increasing the players chances of convincing the Jury and ultimately succeeding in the case.

Trial

The courtroom

When ready, the player may enter the courtroom to start the trial and argue their case, as they did in King's Ransom.

Cases start with the prosecution, and then follow with the defence. During the case, players can talk to the judge in order to question witnesses or present evidence. The player can often only question witnesses if they interviewed them before the trial. In addition, the player may be unable to present certain evidence, or make specific arguments about it, if they did not discover enough about it before the trial.

Players are advised to carefully consider the evidence they present, the witnesses they question and the questions they ask. Good choices can greatly help your case, but poor choices can hinder it.

Once the player is satisfied with their case, they can conclude the case and move to the verdict. In most cases, the player will be able to summarise their case to the Jury whereupon a specific Jury member can then be chosen and appealed to. For more information on selecting a Jury member, see Appealing to the Jury below.

The Jury.

If the player is successful in convincing the Jury, they are rewarded with a combat XP lamp and some items depending on the specific court case tackled. See Rewards below.

If the player is unsuccessful, the Jury will return an 'undecided' verdict and the judge will explain that the player needs to make their case clearer. The player will be returned to the clerk's room, keeping all of the necessary case files, and can proceed downstairs to try again as many times as needed until the case is won.

If the player chooses to abandon the case, the clerk will take it away and the player must obtain a new court summons before they can try again.

Jury

Main article: The Jury

The Jury agrees with you

The Jury is bored

The Jury must be convinced by your arguments in order to succeed in each case. Depending on the choices made, the Jury will respond in one of three ways to each witness or piece of evidence:

• The Jury agrees with your argument. (positive)
• The Jury disagrees with your argument. (negative)
• The Jury doesn't know what to think about your argument. (neutral)

Positive responses indicate that the Jury is becoming convinced, while negative responses indicate the opposite. Neutral responses appear to have little effect on the case.

The Jury will not respond further to any piece of evidence or witness which they have already given a positive or negative response for. This means that players cannot "undo" poor choices made during the trial.

Appealing to the Jury

The Jury selection screen.

When summarising their case, players can choose a Jury member to appeal to. Depending on the choice made, the outcome of the case can be influenced. Each jury member has a different personality which will determine how well they respond to the summary depending on the individual case. Wearing the ring of charos (a) while hovering the mouse over Jury members will show their personal background and interests, which can help when choosing which Jury member to appeal to.

Juror	Description
Ranger	A ranger, he prefers the bow and arrow to all other combat. He's a straight arrow and hates evil doers.
Wizard	A wizard, he researches the mysteries of life and performs magic.
Miner	A miner, works hard all day mining rocks. Likes to party in the evenings.
Cook	A cook, he spends all day making bread and stopping people stealing his cakes. He hates stew.
Shady Gentleman	A shady-looking gentleman. He's likely involved in the criminal underworld.
Young Man	A young man. He's concerned with starting his own business and making money. Also enjoys a rowdy party.
Barbarian	A barbarian. He is sensitive to any disrespect of his culture.
Elderly Gentleman	An elderly gentleman. He's worried about his safety and a rise in crime.
Young Woman	A young woman. She's concerned with the safety of her children.
Shady Individual	A shady-looking fellow. He covers up his face to hide his identity.
Desert Dweller	A desert citizen. She doesn't have much love for mainlanders.
Elderly Citizen	An elderly gentleman. He doesn't like parties or noise.

Cases

There are a total of 16 cases, all of which have guides listed below. There are often several paths to victory in a court case; the guides are not definitive, but show one successful path.

Case	Description
Mugger v. Roger Murray	The Mugger is accused of beating Roger Murray unconscious and stealing his recent gambling winnings.
River troll v. The People	The river troll is accused of littering.
Drunken Dwarf v. The People	The Drunken dwarf is accused of accosting Botros and throwing rocks at him.
Evil Twin v. Good Twin	Moira is accused of the theft of Molly's identity.
Rick Turpentine v. The (Rich) People	Rick Turpentine is accused of mugging Richard Maney.
The Frog Prince v. The People	The frog prince is charged with scamming Flora in order to obtain a kiss.
Sawmill Man v. The People	Will is bringing suit against the sawmill operator for monopolising the wooden plank industry.
Party Pete v. His Neighbours	Party Pete's neighbour, Ikis Krum, accuses Party Pete of making noise over the legal limit.
Ernest v. Professor Oddenstein	Professor Oddenstein is accused by Ernest of unlawfully turning him into a chicken.
Miss Schism v. Draynor Village	Miss Schism is charged with slander and interfering with the ongoing investigation into the Draynor Bank robbery.
EVIL DAVE v. The People	Evil Dave is accused of evilness.
H.A.M. v. Dorgeshuun	Gamdin is suing H.A.M. for abuse. H.A.M. is counter-suing Gamdin for theft.
The Sandwich Lady v. The People	The Sandwich Lady is charged with assault with a deadly baguette.
The Mime v. The People	The Mime is charged with mimicry.
Barbarians v. Wizards	The wizards are seeking reparations for the destruction of the Mage Training Arena during the barbarian invasion.
The Gravedigger v. The People	The Gravedigger is accused of grave robbing by the families of the dead.

Rewards

Congratulations, you win!

If the player is successful in prosecuting or defending the suspect, they are entitled to a reward. Players can collect their reward from the clerk on the ground floor of the courthouse. Players are unable to obtain another court summons until they accept the reward.

Each case will award one or more mystery boxes as well as a combat XP lamp which gives a varying XP reward (depending on the case) in a chosen combat skill. Some cases award additional items, and further rewards can also be obtained upon completing a specific number of cases.

Case Rewards

Case	Experience	Item(s)	Net worth
Mugger v. Roger Murray	2,000	1 mystery box	0
River troll v. The People	3,500	20 sharks and 1 mystery box	38,660
Drunken Dwarf v. The People	5,000	20 gold ore, a kebab, and 1 mystery box	11,944
Evil Twin v. Good Twin	6,500	5 uncut sapphires and 1 mystery box	4,045
Rick Turpentine v. The (Rich) People	8,000	3 uncut rubies and 1 mystery box	5,526
The Frog Prince v. The People	9,000	2 mystery boxes	0
Sawmill Man v. The People	9,000	30 teak planks and 1 mystery box	11,160
Party Pete v. His Neighbours	9,000	The rainbow afro and 1 mystery box	0
Ernest v. Professor Oddenstein	10,000	100 feathers, 15 red feathers, 15 yellow feathers, 15 blue feathers, 20 raw bird meat, and 1 mystery box	20,540
Miss Schism v. Draynor Village	9,000	1 humble pie and 1 mystery box	0
EVIL DAVE v. The People	9,000	5 spicy stews and 1 mystery box	0
H.A.M. v. Dorgeshuun	15,000	100 cave goblin wire, 5 uncut rubies, and 1 mystery box	456,310
The Sandwich Lady v. The People	9,000	2 mystery boxes	0
The Mime v. The People	9,000	2 mystery boxes and the Faint emote.	0
Barbarians v. Wizards	20,000	10 dagannoth hides, 50 law runes, and 1 mystery box	88,850
The Gravedigger v. The People	9,000	2 mystery boxes	0

The net worth does not include the value of any items found inside mystery boxes.

Threshold rewards

Cases complete	Reward
5	Barrister wig
10	Barrister top
16	Gavel Title: [Name] the Detective

Required for completing

Completing all the court cases is a requirement for the following:

• Obtaining the trimmed completionist cape
• Obtaining the master quest cape

Music

Music unlocked:

• Judge and Jury

Transcript

This article has an associated transcript page. Click here for the transcript.

Trivia

• Court Cases was released on 9 June 2010 along with a developer blog which provides some insights into its development.
• Court Cases was updated as part of the 26 May 2015 D&D updates, removing the 14 days wait time between cases, adding mystery boxes as rewards for all cases, and changing the experience lamp rewards. Players that had previously completed the Court Cases were not rewarded with the mystery boxes.