Something that could have helped Riker in "A Matter of Perspective"

[indycar]

It seems that the Krag's (the prosecutor) case was based on the fact that Riker shot the machine to kill Nel Apgar as he was being beamed away. However, we see that when he is beamed onboard, he has no phaser. Couldn't O'Brien have testified that Riker had no phaser when he beamed onto the ship?

 

[T'Girl]

Obviously O'Brien would have been lying to cover for his superior officer.


,

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

And transporter logs can be altered, so Krag wouldn't want to look at them either.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Only in Most Toys you can deactivate weapons with the transporter.

Foreign legal systems in Trek tend to be designed to railroad people. Guilty until proven innocent, third hand conjecture accepted as evidence.

 

[HIjol]

If memory serves, he had The Beard in that episode. Maybe no Beard would have helped?

Found some interesting entries at Memory Alpha:

"While certain types of energy could be transported safely, active phaser beams would be disrupted during this breakdown process. (TNG: "Datalore") The matter stream was briefly stored in a pattern buffer..."

Would the Pattern Buffer be alterable, or would it retain the "memory" of a weapon?

Energy weapons fire would also affect the subject, unless it was sufficiently far into the transport that the fire passed through it harmlessly. (ENT: "Broken Bow", "Countdown") By the late 23rd century, however, transporters shielded the subject from these external incursions. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country; TNG: "A Matter of Perspective")

Would this have had an impact on the phaser?

Biofilters also functioned to detect and disable weapons and explosives (remat detonators, for example). (TNG: "Realm of Fear", "The Schizoid Man", "The Most Toys")

???

 

[Scotchy]

Departing from his usual flirty norm probably would've been helpful. Even with the Vizor you can tell Geordi is rolling his eyes.
The main reason this episode is great is because you get to see Riker scream "You're a DEAD MAN, APGAR! A DEAD MAN!!" Now that's a 1st Officer.
I also think that for each re-enactment his beard should have changed radically. Fu Manchu, Handlebar mustache, soul patch, mutton chops.... Troi could've patted him on the arm and consolingly reminded him "Will, everyone believes they're recollecting your facial hair accurately. They don't think they're lying."

 

[NigellaDeanna20]

It seems that the Krag's (the prosecutor) case was based on the fact that Riker shot the machine to kill Nel Apgar as he was being beamed away. However, we see that when he is beamed onboard, he has no phaser. Couldn't O'Brien have testified that Riker had no phaser when he beamed onto the ship?

Excellent point! Plus the fact that the transporter would have probably have detected an active weapon while in transit like it did with Data in "The Most Toys".

 

[Lt. Tyler]

Riker did it we all know he's guilty.

 

[JeffJedi]

I love the one where Apgar beats up Ruler.

 

[JeffJedi]

Riker that is.

 

[CrazyMatt]

How about a better script?

 

[Scotchy]

indycar - "However, we see that when he is beamed onboard, he has no phaser. Couldn't O'Brien have testified that Riker had no phaser when he beamed onto the ship?"

That would have just led to the question - where was Riker hiding that phaser? No pockets on those uniforms....
Since it was a family show (and Riker was TNG's Quagmire) they could never have answered it.

 

[Timo]

Well, yeah. Even if a testimony or an objective recording of Riker's arrival on the E-D could be admitted as evidence and fully accepted by the prosecution, it would prove nothing. The tiny phaser could be easily concealed on Riker's body - the Type I phasers always remain invisible before use. And Riker could have done the concealing after completing the firing; being gripped by a transporter beam does not hinder one's movements, except perhaps in certain special cases of which this supposedly wasn't one, and Riker supposedly spent enough seconds in that beam to complete the concealing.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[TheSubCommander]

Departing from his usual flirty norm probably would've been helpful. Even with the Vizor you can tell Geordi is rolling his eyes.
The main reason this episode is great is because you get to see Riker scream "You're a DEAD MAN, APGAR! A DEAD MAN!!" Now that's a 1st Officer.
I also think that for each re-enactment his beard should have changed radically. Fu Manchu, Handlebar mustache, soul patch, mutton chops.... Troi could've patted him on the arm and consolingly reminded him "Will, everyone believes they're recollecting your facial hair accurately. They don't think they're lying."

I like that idea. They kind of did the same thing with Voyager's Living Witness, where Chakotay had a tattoo that covered half his face, and the entire Voyager crew dressed and acted like a bunch of space nazis.

 

[Scotchy]

The Voyager episode Author Author was along similar lines. I really enjoyed the cruel, gun enthusiast version of Captain Janeway in that one. I found Paris' version of the Doctor to be especially hilarious.

 

[hux]

Riker probably did it.

He's just got that look about him. Like he's the type of beard growing freak to put milk in the cup BEFORE the hot water. He's a monster.