Luke Skywalker acquitted on all charges by Pittsburgh-area ‘jury’
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The force was with him.
Luke Skywalker was acquitted on all charges Saturday by a jury of 15 youths in the region during a mock trial at the Dormont Public Library put on by the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division.
Skywalker was portrayed by Pittsburgh attorney Matthew Feinman during the performance, which was part of the bar association’s “Fairy Tale Mock Trials” series they’ve put on for five years.
Skywalker, 54, a Tatooine native, was 19 when he destroyed the Death Star in “Star Wars.”
He was charged with 5,999 counts of murder in the catastrophe.
Twelve of the 15 jurors found Skywalker not guilty of the crimes, while three said he was guilty, according to one of the organizers of the event, Pittsburgh attorney Catherine S. Loeffler.
A packed house of about 50 people showed up to watch the case proceed, she said, and the children who attended enjoyed the case.
Although Skywalker was acquitted of murder, some thought prosecutors should have pursued property damage charges against Skywalker for destroying the Death Star, she said.
Others thought Skywalker’s father, Darth Vader, formerly known as Anakin Skywalker, and Sheev Palpatine should have faced the charges, Loeffler said.
Those who missed the case will have another chance to see the trial, as it will be reprised at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 18, at Northland Public Library in McCandless.
The latest installment in the iconic film franchise is set to open in theaters Dec. 20. A trailer for the new movie, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” was released Friday.