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{{realworld}}
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{{real world}}
{{sidebar episode|
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{{sidebar episode/temp
<!-- See [[Memory Alpha:Episode data project]] -->
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|<!-- See [[Memory Alpha:Projects/Episode data project]] -->
| aSelf = Court Martial
+
|title = Court Martial
| sTitle = Court Martial
+
|series = TOS
| sSeries = TOS
+
|season = 1
| nSeason = 1
+
|episode = 14
| nEpisode = 14
+
|production = 6149-15
  +
|release year = 1967
|sProductionSerialNumber = 6149-15
 
  +
|release month = February
| nAirdateYear = 1967
 
  +
|release day = 2
| sAirdateMonth = February
 
  +
|image = Kirk on trial.jpg
| nAirdateDay = 2
 
| sImage = Spock McCoy 3D chess.jpg
+
|teleplay = [[Don M. Mankiewicz]] and [[Steven W. Carabatsos]]
  +
|story = [[Don M. Mankiewicz]]
| wsWrittenBy =
 
| wsTeleplayBy = [[Don M. Mankiewicz]] and [[Steven W. Carabatsos]]
+
|director = [[Marc Daniels]]
| wsStoryBy = [[Don M. Mankiewicz]]
+
|date = 2947.3 ([[2267]])
  +
|<!-- Navigation -->
| wsDirectedBy = [[Marc Daniels]]
 
| nNthProducedInSeries = 15
+
|produced = 15
| nNthReleasedInSeries = 20
+
|released = 20
| nNthReleasedInAll = 20
+
|all released = 20
 
|produced prev = The Galileo Seven (episode)
| bFeatureLength = 0
 
  +
|released prev = Tomorrow is Yesterday (episode)
| nSerialAirdate = 19670202
 
  +
|all released prev = Tomorrow is Yesterday (episode)
| wsDate = 2947.3 ([[2267]])
 
  +
|timeline prev =
| aNextReleasedInAll = The Return of the Archons (episode)
 
| aPrevReleasedInAll = Tomorrow is Yesterday (episode)
+
|produced next = The Menagerie, Part I (episode)
| aNextReleasedInSeries = The Return of the Archons (episode)
+
|released next = The Return of the Archons (episode)
| aPrevReleasedInSeries = Tomorrow is Yesterday (episode)
+
|all released next = The Return of the Archons (episode)
  +
|timeline next =
| aNextProducedInSeries = The Menagerie, Part I (episode)
 
  +
|<!-- Remastered -->
| aPrevProducedInSeries = The Galileo Seven (episode)
 
  +
|re-release year = 2008
|aNextInUniverseTimeline = The Menagerie, Part I (episode)
 
  +
|re-release month = May
|aPrevInUniverseTimeline = The Galileo Seven (episode)
 
  +
|re-release day = 10
| nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered = 68
 
  +
|re-released = 68
| nAirdateYear_Remastered = 2008
 
  +
|re-released prev = Assignment: Earth (episode)
| sAirdateMonth_Remastered = May
 
 
|re-released next = A Private Little War (episode)
| nAirdateDay_Remastered = 10
 
| aNextReleasedInSeries_Remastered = A Private Little War (episode)
 
| aPrevReleasedInSeries_Remastered = Assignment: Earth (episode)
 
| nSerialAirdate_Remastered = 20080510
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{Disambiguate|the 1953 short story published in ''Galaxy''|Court Martial}}
 
{{Disambiguate|the military legal procedure|court martial}}
 
----
 
 
Kirk is accused of criminal negligence causing the death of one of his subordinates, Lt. Commander Benjamin Finney, and is put on trial for his murder.
 
Kirk is accused of criminal negligence causing the death of one of his subordinates, Lt. Commander Benjamin Finney, and is put on trial for his murder.
   
 
== Summary ==
 
== Summary ==
=== Teaser ===
+
===Teaser===
[[File:Starbase11orbit.jpg|thumb|Orbiting Starbase 11]]
+
[[File:Picasso inspects the Enterprise.jpg|thumb|left|The ''Picasso'' inspects the ''Enterprise'']]
:"''Captain's Log, stardate 2947.3. We have been through a severe [[ion storm]]. One crewman is dead. The ship's damage is considerable. I have ordered a nonscheduled layover on [[Starbase 11]] for repairs. A full report of damages was made to the commanding officer of Starbase 11, [[Commodore]] [[Stone (Commodore)|Stone]].''"
+
:"''[[Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2267|Captain's log]], stardate 2947.3. We have been through a severe [[ion storm]]. One crewman is dead. The ship's damage is considerable. I have ordered a nonscheduled layover on [[Starbase 11]] for repairs. A full report of damages was made to the commanding officer of Starbase 11, [[Commodore]] {{dis|Stone|Commodore}}.''"
   
  +
On the surface-based facility of Starbase 11, Commodore Stone is advising Maintenance Section 18 to reschedule their repairs to the {{USS|Intrepid|NCC-1631}} to give the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}} priority one. Captain [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]] is reading &ndash; for the third time &ndash; a copy of his sworn deposition on the events that led to the death of [[records officer]] [[Benjamin Finney]]. While waiting for [[Spock]] to arrive with an excerpt of the computer log, Kirk explains that he waited until the last possible moment but, with the ship on [[red alert]], the ion storm got worse. Kirk had to eject the [[ion pod]] containing Finney, to his [[death]].
In Commodore Stone's office on the surface based facility of Starbase 11, Captain Kirk is reading over his sworn testimony as the commodore looks over a wall display, showing the repair status of several starships. Commodore Stone calls for maintenance section 18, which is working on the {{USS|Intrepid|NCC-1631}}, to reschedule and work on the ''Enterprise'', which is priority one.
 
   
  +
Spock finally [[beam]]s down ten minutes late with the computer records, which Stone takes; shortly afterward, [[Jame Finney]] enters and names Kirk as "''the man who killed my father.''" She shrieks at him and breaks down into [[tear duct|tears]]. Stone asks Spock to escort the girl out of the room, but then accuses Kirk of committing willful perjury &ndash; the computer records show that Kirk ejected the pod ''before'' placing the ship on red alert. Stone orders Kirk to remain on Starbase 11 for an inquiry on whether a [[general court martial]] is in order.
Captain Kirk says that Records Officer [[Benjamin Finney]] was in the ion pod during the ion storm. He went to [[red alert]] and warned him to get out of the pod. But he was too late, and they had to eject it, killing him.
 
   
 
===Act One===
Kirk calls the ''Enterprise'', and [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]] tells him [[Spock]] should have beamed down already with the computer records confirming his testimony. Spock beams down, unsure of the information on the records, but before he can say anything, [[Jame Finney]] walks in accusing Captain Kirk of the murder of her father, Benjamin Finney.
 
 
:"''Captain's log, stardate 2948.5. Starship ''Enterprise'' remains in orbit around Starbase 11. Full repair is in progress. I have been ordered to stand by on Starbase 11 until the inquiry into the death of Lieutenant Commander Finney can be conducted. I am confident of the outcome.''"
   
 
Captain Kirk and [[Doctor]] [[Leonard McCoy|McCoy]] walk into the M-11 Starbase Club on Starbase 11, and meet up with several members of Kirk's graduating class from the [[Starfleet Academy|Academy]], including [[Corrigan]], [[Teller]], {{dis|Timothy|Lieutenant}}, and [[Mike]]. Several claim to be concerned about how long they are staying, but Kirk realizes they already have made up their minds that he was indeed responsible for Finney's death.
Spock escorts her out, and Commodore Stone asks Kirk if he's sure he jettisoned the pod ''after'' calling red alert, which he confirms. But the computer records say he jettisoned it before calling red alert, and thereby placing the blame of Finney's death on him. Commodore Stone restricts him to the base, and opens an official inquiry.
 
   
  +
As Kirk leaves, [[Areel Shaw]] enters, just missing her. Dr. McCoy introduces himself and they find they are both mutual friends of Kirk, McCoy saying of himself, "''In these trying times, one of the few.''" He notes that soon, Kirk will need ''all'' the friends he can get.
=== Act One ===
 
:"''Captain's log, stardate 2948.5. Starship ''Enterprise'' remains in orbit around Starbase 11. Full repair is in progress. I have been ordered to stand by on Starbase 11 until the inquiry into the death of Lieutenant Commander Finney can be conducted. I'm confident of the outcome.''"
 
   
 
In Commodore Stone's office, Stone begins the inquiry. Kirk starts by describing his relationship with Finney, including the fact that he taught at Starfleet Academy when Kirk was a [[midshipman]], and that his daughter was named after him.
Captain Kirk and [[Doctor]] [[Leonard McCoy|McCoy]] walk into the M-11 Starbase Club on Starbase 11, and meet up with several members of Kirk's graduating class, including [[Corrigan]] and [[Teller]]. Several of them, including [[Timothy (Lieutenant)|Timothy]], claim to be concerned about how long they are staying, but Kirk realizes they believe that he was responsible for Finney's (who was also a member of the same graduating class) death.
 
   
 
But a number of years later, while they both served together on the {{USS|Republic}}, Kirk says that Finney left a circuit open to the atomic matter piles that should have been closed. Another five minutes and he could have blown up the ship. Kirk closed the switch and logged the incident, and Finney drew a [[formal reprimand|reprimand]] and was sent to the bottom of the promotion list. Kirk says that Finney believed that Kirk's action delayed Finney's assignment to a starship and ultimately to command.
Just after Captain Kirk leaves, [[Areel Shaw]] enters. Dr. McCoy quickly introduces himself, and they go to have drinks.
 
   
 
They turn to the ion storm. Kirk says he chose Finney to occupy the ion pod solely because the duty roster said it was Finney's turn. Finney entered the pod just before the ''Enterprise'' reached the leading edge of the storm. Kirk signaled [[yellow alert]]. Due to "''[[pressure]], variant stress, force seven, the works,''" Kirk signaled red alert. This alerted Finney to exit the pod, and Kirk said he delayed even longer before finally ejecting the pod. Stone reminds Kirk that the logs show he ejected the pod ''before'' signaling red alert. Kirk cannot explain that, but says it is next to impossible that the computer is wrong.
[[File:Starbase11_chart.jpg|thumb|Commodore Stone and chart of starship repair status]]
 
In Commodore Stone's office, the inquiry to decide if a general court martial should be convened against Captain Kirk begins. Kirk starts by describing his relationship with Finney, including the fact that he taught at [[Starfleet Academy]] when Kirk was a [[midshipman]], and that his daughter was named after him.
 
   
  +
Commodore Stone stops the recording, and suggests that perhaps stress and time as [[commanding officer]] of the ''Enterprise'' have worn Kirk down. Stone offers Kirk a report that will lead to a ground assignment if Kirk does admit responsibility. Stone says it would smear [[Starfleet]] if a starship captain were to be court-martialed. However, Kirk is insulted by the idea of covering up the incident, and responds, "''So ''that's'' the way we do it now &ndash; sweep this whole thing under the rug, and me along with it! Not on your life. I intend to fight!''" This decision angers Stone, who says in retort, "''Then you draw a general court!''" Kirk replies, "''Draw'' it? I ''demand'' it! And right now, Commodore Stone; right now!''"
[[File:Picasso inspects the Enterprise.jpg|thumb]]But a number of years later, while they both served on the {{USS|Republic}}, Finney left a circuit open to the atomic matter piles that should have been closed, another 5 minutes and he could have blown up the ship. Kirk closed the switch, and logged the incident, and Finney drew a reprimand, and was sent to the bottom of the promotion list. Finney always blamed Kirk for his never getting promoted to captain of his own ship.
 
   
 
===Act Two===
Discussing the ion storm, Kirk claims he sent Finney into the ion pod just before entering the storm. At the leading edge, he checked in as Captain Kirk signaled [[yellow alert]]. Due to [[pressure]], force 7 variant stress, Captain Kirk signaled red alert. This gave Finney the warning to get out of the pod, before it had to be ejected. Commodore Stone reminds him that the logs show he ejected the pod before signaling red alert, a fact that Kirk can't explain.
 
 
Commodore Stone stops the recording, and suggests that perhaps stress and time have worn him down offering him a ground assignment if he'll admit responsibility. Insulted by the idea of effectively covering up the incident, Captain Kirk argues that he knew what happened, and the transcripts are lying. Commodore Stone decides that a General Court Martial must be drawn, to which Kirk, knowing the truth would clear him, angrily demands such a hearing.
 
 
=== Act Two ===
 
 
:"''Captain's log, stardate 2948.9. The officers who will comprise my court martial board are proceeding to Starbase 11. Meanwhile, repairs on the ''Enterprise'' are almost complete.''"
 
:"''Captain's log, stardate 2948.9. The officers who will comprise my court martial board are proceeding to Starbase 11. Meanwhile, repairs on the ''Enterprise'' are almost complete.''"
   
  +
[[File:Areel Shaw.jpg|thumb|Prosecutor Areel Shaw]]
[[File:AreelShaw.jpg|thumb|[[Prosecutor]] Areel Shaw]]Captain Kirk meets with his old friend, [[Areel Shaw]], who he hasn't seen in over four years. She warns him that he's taking the case very lightly, which he attributes to "the confidence of an innocent man". She says that the [[Prosecutor|prosecution]] will argue "Kirk vs. Computer", on which he'd lose.
+
Kirk meets with his old friend, Areel, whom he has not seen in "''[[2262|four years]], seven months, and an odd number of days,''" Shaw states. She warns him that he appears to be taking the case very lightly, which he attributes to "the confidence of an innocent man". She says that the [[Prosecutor|prosecution]] will argue "Kirk vs. the computer", on which basis he would most certainly lose.
   
He asks her to be his attorney, but she's busy with another case. She recommends [[Samuel T. Cogley]], Attorney at Law. He asks her how she knows so much about the case, and what the prosecution is going to do. She reveals that she is the prosecution, and she's going to try her hardest to see that he is broken out of the service in disgrace.
+
He asks her to be his attorney, but she protests to being too busy with another case. She recommends [[Samuel T. Cogley]]. He asks her how she knows so much about what the prosecution is going to do. She reveals that she ''is'' the prosecuting officer… and that she will have to do her very best to have him broken out of the service in disgrace. She leaves the bar, abruptly.
   
In James Kirk's temporary quarters on Starbase 11, Samuel T. Cogley has set up shop with a number of old-style "books". Kirk is just about to pour some [[Saurian brandy]], when he notices he has let himself in. Cogley argues that books are where you can experience the law, not in a synthesized computer.
+
In Kirk's temporary quarters on Starbase 11, a man has set up shop with hundreds of bound books, which he argues is "where the law is", along with the intent of its writers, not in a computer, which he has but never uses. Kirk declares that the man is either an "obsessive crackpot" or Samuel T. Cogley, Attorney-at-Law. Cogley says Kirk is right on both counts and agrees to take the captain's case. Cogley does not inspire much confidence from Kirk, however convinced he is that Shaw might have meant well.
   
[[File:CourtMartial.jpg|thumb|In court]]
+
[[File:Starbase 11 courtroom.jpg|thumb|In court]]
As Captain Kirk's court martial begins, Commodore Stone has assembled a board to oversee the proceedings; [[Starfleet Command]] representative [[Lindstrom (Captain)|Lindstrom]], and starship Captains [[Krasnovsky]] and [[Nensi Chandra|Chandra]]. Commodore Stone, as president of the proceedings, asks if Kirk has any objections to any member of the court, and he doesn't. After the computer lists the charges against him, Captain Kirk pleads not guilty.
+
Captain Kirk's court martial begins, with Commodore Stone presiding and with [[Starfleet Command]] representative {{dis|Lindstrom|Captain}}, and starship Captains [[Krasnovsky]] and {{dis|Chandra|Captain}}. Kirk does not object to the personnel, and consents to both the services of Shaw as prosecutor and Stone as judge. After the computer lists the charges and specifications that have been formally proffered against him, Kirk formally pleads not guilty.
   
 
[[File:Shaw questions Spock.jpg|thumb|Shaw questions Commander Spock]]
 
[[File:Shaw questions Spock.jpg|thumb|Shaw questions Commander Spock]]
Lieutenant Shaw calls Spock to the stand. After the computer reads off his service file, Shaw asks Commander Spock how much he knows about computers, to which he responds that he knew all about them.
+
Lieutenant Shaw calls Spock to the stand. After the computer reads off his service file, Shaw asks Commander Spock how much he knows about computers. Spock says, "''I know all about them.''" Shaw asks Spock if he knows of any malfunction that caused an inaccuracy in the ''Enterprise'' computer, and Spock says he does not. "''But the computer ''is'' inaccurate, nevertheless,''" he adds. Shaw clarifies that the computer reports that Kirk was reacting to an extreme emergency that did not then exist. Spock says that is impossible based on his knowledge of Kirk, which he insists is not speculation. Spock says that Kirk's characteristics are as predictable as gravity, and do not include panic or malice. Shaw finishes by getting Spock to admit that this is all his opinion. Cogley chooses not to cross-examine him.
   
 
Lieutenant Shaw then calls the [[USS Enterprise operations personnel officer|personnel officer]] of the ''Enterprise'' to the stand. She confirms that when Kirk was an [[ensign]] on the ''Republic'' with Finney, Kirk's log entry cost Finney a promotion. Cogley has no questions for this witness, either.
She then claims that Kirk was responding to an emergency that didn't yet exist, and thereby killing Finney. Spock argues that Shaw's theory is impossible, as Kirk could not have done such a thing.
 
   
 
Lieutenant Shaw then calls [[Chief medical officer|ship's surgeon]] Dr. Leonard McCoy to the stand. She claims that he is an expert in space psychology and the mental effects of long-term space travel; as ''he'' considers himself no such expert, he concedes in his response, "''I know something about it.''" She then asks McCoy if it was possible that, if Finney hated Kirk, Kirk reciprocated by hating Finney. McCoy is adamant that Kirk is not that kind of a man, but Shaw forces McCoy to admit that it is possible. Again, Cogley does not cross-examine.
Cogley has no questions, and Spock steps down.
 
   
  +
Commodore Stone questions Cogley's failure to cross-examine any of the prosecution witnesses, but Cogley calls their testimony "preliminary business" and calls Kirk himself to the stand. The computer begins to list Kirk's service record and [[Medals and awards|awards]]. Shaw tries to halt this, conceding Kirk's "inestimable record," but Cogley insists that the wheels of progress not run over his client, though he relents once a few more honors are recited.
Lieutenant Shaw then calls the personnel officer of the ''Enterprise'' to the stand. The personnel officer confirms that when Captain Kirk was an [[ensign]] on the ''Republic'' with Finney, it was noted in Finney's record that he failed to close a circuit, which cost him a promotion. Cogley has no questions at this time, either.
 
   
  +
Cogley asks Kirk if there was indeed a red alert before the pod was jettisoned, despite what the computers said. Kirk states that there was, and that he would do it again, because his actions were absolutely necessary for the safety of his ship.
Lieutenant Shaw then calls [[Chief medical officer|ship's surgeon]] Dr. Leonard McCoy to the stand. She confirms that he is an expert in space psychology and the effects that long term space travel has on the mind. She then asks McCoy if it was possible, that if Finney hated Kirk, Kirk then reciprocated by hating Finney. Again, Cogley has no questions, and Dr. McCoy steps down.
 
   
 
[[File:Stone (Commodore).jpg|thumb|Commodore Stone presides over the court martial]]
After an expression of puzzlement by Commodore Stone at Cogley's unwillingness to cross-examine, Cogley then calls Captain James T. Kirk to the stand. After the computer lists off a number of his [[Medals and awards|awards]], Cogley asks Kirk if there was indeed a red alert when the pod was jettisoned, despite what the computers said.
 
  +
In cross-examination, Shaw plays the video playback from the [[bridge]] of the ''Enterprise'' on stardate 2945.7. The footage shows Finney being posted to the pod, and the ''Enterprise'' going to yellow alert after encountering the ion storm. Shaw then magnifies a panel on the right side of Kirk's [[command chair]]. The video playback shows that Kirk ''did'' in fact launch the pod before signaling red alert. A shocked and horrified Kirk insists, his voice a bare whisper as he does, "''But that's not the way it happened.''"
   
 
===Act Three===
Kirk states that there was, and that he would do it again, because he would do anything for the safety of his ship. Cogley then gives the witness to Lieutenant Shaw.
 
 
:"''Captain's log, stardate 2949.9. The evidence presented by the visual playback to my general court-martial was damning. I suspect even my attorney has begun to doubt me.''"
   
  +
Back in Kirk's quarters on the starbase, Cogley suggests that maybe Kirk did have a lapse in memory, and that they can still change their plea. Kirk allows himself a moment of self-doubt, but concludes, "''No! I ''know'' what I did!''"
[[File:Stone_(Commodore).jpg|thumb|Commodore Stone presides over the court]]
 
Lieutenant Shaw then plays the video playback, from the Bridge of the ''Enterprise'', on Stardate 2945.7. The footage shows Lieutenant Commander Finney being posted to the pod, and the ''Enterprise'' going to yellow alert after encountering the ion storm.
 
   
  +
Spock contacts Kirk from the ''Enterprise'', saying that he ran a [[megalite survey]] on the computer. Kirk guesses the results: Nothing. Kirk thanks Spock but has no further orders for him, only speculation that Spock will be able to defeat his next commanding officer at [[chess]], and closes the channel. Spock repeats that word thoughtfully and leaves the bridge.
Shaw then magnifies a panel on the side of Kirk's [[command chair]]. The video shows that Kirk did in fact launch the pod, before signaling red alert. The captain is puzzled, claiming "''that's not the way it happened.''"
 
   
 
Jame Finney enters, asking Cogley to make Kirk change his plea and take a ground assignment. Cogley calls Jame's change of heart unusual, but Jame says she has been reading through old letters to her and her mother, in which Benjamin Finney talked about how close he was to Kirk. Kirk leaves to change into his [[dress uniform]], while Cogley formulates an idea.
=== Act Three ===
 
:"''Captain's log, stardate 2949.9. The evidence presented by the visual playback to my general court-martial was damning. I suspect even my attorney has begun to doubt me.''"
 
   
  +
Back on the ''Enterprise'', Spock is playing a game of [[three-dimensional chess]] with the computer in the [[briefing room]]. Dr. McCoy walks in and, irritated, calls Spock cold-blooded for playing chess while their captain's career is hanging in the balance. After thanking McCoy for the compliment, Spock adds that he has just won four games in a row against the computer. That announcement catches Dr. McCoy short and retorts that is impossible: Spock had programmed the computer himself, he himself states the best he should have been able to attain was a draw. The two men immediately prepare to beam down to Starbase 11 with the new information that the program bank shows evidence of being tampered.
Cogley suggests to Kirk that maybe he did have a lapse in memory, and that they can still change their plea. But Kirk, unsure of his own decision, decides that he'll stick to what he remembers. Spock contacts Starbase 11 from the ''Enterprise'', saying that he ran a [[megalyte survey]] on the computer, but the results show nothing.
 
   
  +
[[File:SamuelCogley.jpg|thumb|Defense Attorney Samuel T. Cogley]]
Kirk suggests that maybe Spock will be able to defeat his next captain at [[chess]], and closes the channel. To this, Spock says "chess..." and leaves the bridge.
 
  +
The court martial is back in session, and both the prosecution and defense both rest their cases. Just then, Spock and McCoy enter and whisper to Cogley and Kirk. Cogley now tells the court that he has new evidence that he cannot tell the court but must show it. Shaw objects that Cogley had rested his case and is now attempting "theatrics". Roused to anger against machines, Cogley enumerates, with passion, a long list of historical precepts which maintain that an accused man has the right to confront the witnesses against him. In this case, the most damning witness is the computer of the ''Enterprise''. Cogley moves, and indeed demands both in his rage and "''in the name of a Humanity fading in the shadow of the machine,''" that the court reconvene aboard the ''Enterprise'' lest it elevate the computer above Humanity.
   
 
===Act Four===
In the captain's temporary quarters, Jame Finney enters, asking Cogley to make Kirk change his plea, and take a ground assignment. Jame had read through old letters to her and her mother, in which Benjamin Finney talked about how close he was to his friend, James Kirk. Kirk leaves to change into his [[dress uniform]], while Cogley formulates an idea.
 
 
:"''Captain's log, stardate 2950.1. After due consideration, the general court-martial has reconvened on board the ''Enterprise''."
   
  +
In the briefing room, Spock testifies that he has now won five games of chess against the computer, to which he gave a knowledge of the game equal to his own and which, assuming that neither he nor it commits any mistakes, should have led to a best result of successive stalemates; it has not. Spock concludes that someone, either accidentally or deliberately, adjusted its programming and therefore its memory banks. The only people who could have done it are Kirk, Spock himself, and the records officer, who, at the time, was Lieutenant Commander Finney.
Back on the ''Enterprise'', Spock is playing a game of 3-D chess with the computer in the [[briefing room]]. Dr. McCoy walks in, astonished that he could be engaging in recreation at a time like this. When Spock quite casually confirms that, indeed, he is simply a relaxing game of chess, McCoy calls the Vulcan the most cold-blooded man he has ever known and storms out.
 
   
  +
Cogley turns to Kirk to describe the search for Finney after the storm. Kirk says it was a phase one search, a painstaking effort to find a crewman who may be unable to respond. Cogley notes that it presupposes that the crewman wishes to be found. After all, he explains, when searching for someone it is natural to assume that the someone wants to be found, and is not hiding. Kirk admits, much to Shaw's shock and horror, when Cogley asks him, that it is possible that, on a ship of this size, a man could evade such a search. Cogley declares, "''Gentlemen, I submit to you that Lieutenant Commander Ben Finney is not dead!''"
Before he can get to the door, however, Spock explains that he's just won his fourth consecutive game, and when the doctor stops in his tracks and insists that such a feat is impossible, Spock invites him to observe his next match. After defeating the computer once again, he tells McCoy that, while its mechanically "flawless" nature ''should'' make it infallible, he could not accept what the computer reported regarding Captain Kirk's decision to jettison the pod - he had been on the bridge during the emergency, and therefore he ''knew'' its account of the incident was false. So he tested the program bank, and by winning, proved that the computer had been tampered with.
 
   
 
The court demands an explanation, and Cogley defers to Kirk to conduct an experiment. Kirk orders all but the command crew and the court to beam off the ''Enterprise'' to the surface, including Cogley, who says he has an errand of vital importance to the business of this court.
When McCoy now asks Spock he isn't in more of a hurry to reveal these findings, Spock alerts the transporter room that he and Dr. McCoy are beaming down, and they hurry out of the Briefing room.
 
   
[[File:SamuelCogley.jpg|thumb|Defense Samuel T. Cogley]]
+
[[File:Court martial officials on bridge.jpg|thumb|Stone hears Finney's heartbeat]]
  +
The crew leaves, the impulse engines are shut down, and the ship orbits Starbase 11 by momentum, though Kirk assures the court they will be finished long before the ''Enterprise''{{'}}s orbit starts to decay. Spock uses the ship's auditory sensors to amplify the heartbeats of all aboard, and McCoy uses a [[white-sound device]] to mask the heartbeats of all aboard the bridge. After masking the crewman in the [[transporter room]], a single heartbeat is still heard, coming from the B-Deck, in or near [[engineering]]. Kirk orders that area sealed and goes down with a [[phaser]] to find Finney. The ''Enterprise''{{'}}s orbit begins to decay.
Meanwhile, court has resumed. The prosecution rests their case, but, just as the defense does the same, Spock and McCoy hurry in with new evidence. Cogley pleads that Human rights demand that Kirk be allowed to face the witness against him, the ''Enterprise''{{'}}s computer.
 
   
 
[[File:Benjamin Finney.jpg|thumb|Benjamin Finney, alive, but not well]]
Cogley suggests the court reconvene aboard the ''Enterprise''. He explains that doing otherwise would lower Humanity to the level of the machine.
 
  +
In [[main engineering]], Kirk encounters a crazed Ben Finney, who explains that Kirk and Starfleet conspired to rob him of his own command. He aims a phaser at Kirk, but says that Kirk's death would mean too little to the captain, losing his ship would be far worse. Finney has also tapped out the primary energy circuits and intends to destroy the ship.
   
  +
[[File:Shaw and Kirk, 2267.jpg|left|thumb|"''Goodbye, Jim.''"]]
=== Act Four ===
 
  +
Kirk tries to reason with Finney, but they begin fighting in main engineering. Spock tells members of the court that time is running out to beam back to the planet, but Stone regards Finney as a witness that the court should finish hearing.
:"''Captain's log, stardate 2950.1. After due consideration, the general court-martial has reconvened on board the ''Enterprise''.''"
 
   
 
However, Sam Cogley's errand on the planet was to bring Jame aboard. Kirk asks Ben Finney whether he also intends to kill his daughter, and gets the upper hand. Beaten and sobbing, Finney tells Kirk where he tampered with the controls. Kirk begins attempting repairs in a [[Jefferies tube]].
Spock explains to the court that the best he could hope for in a game of chess with the computer would be a stalemate, and yet he's won five games to date. Hypothetically, the only people who could have altered the computer are Spock, Kirk, or a records officer, which at present, the ''Enterprise'' does not have.
 
   
  +
On the bridge, Lieutenant [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]] takes the [[navigation console]] as power returns. Lieutenant {{dis|Hansen|Lieutenant}} is able to have the ''Enterprise''{{'}}s orbit stabilized and Stone rules that the court is dismissed, to which Shaw has absolutely no objection.
Kirk describes the phase one search they performed to find Lieutenant Commander Finney, after the pod had been jettisoned. When Kirk admits that, on a vessel as large as a {{ShipClass|Constitution}} starship, it was at least possible for someone to evade such a search, Cogley concludes that Finney may not be dead at all, but hiding somewhere aboard the ''Enterprise''.
 
   
  +
As the ''Enterprise'' prepares to depart, Shaw delivers a gift from Cogley to Kirk on the bridge: a book. Cogley himself is busy, now representing Finney in his own trial. Peering around the bridge, she innocently asks if her, a lieutenant; kisses a starship captain on the bridge of his ship, would cause a complete breakdown of discipline. Kirk grants it and delivers a passionate kiss on the bridge, noting that nothing happens and discipline continues. Kirk wishes Shaw better luck next time, but Shaw counters that she had pretty good luck in losing the current case. Kirk returns to his chair with Spock and McCoy flanking him. "''She's a ''very'' good lawyer,''" Kirk says. "''Obviously,''" Spock replies. "''Indeed she is,''" McCoy adds. The ''Enterprise'' departs Starbase 11 and continues its mission.
To conduct an experiment, all but the command crew and the court are beamed off the ''Enterprise'' to the surface, including Cogley, who had important business there.
 
   
 
== Memorable quotes ==
[[File:Court martial officials on bridge.jpg|thumb|Stone hears Finney's heartbeat]]
 
  +
"''Consider yourself confined to the base. An official inquiry will determine whether a general court martial is in order!''"
Spock uses the ship's on board auditory sensors to amplify the heartbeats of all aboard. Dr. McCoy uses a white sound device to mask the heartbeats of all aboard the bridge.
 
 
: - '''Stone''', to Kirk
   
This leaves only the crewman in the [[transporter room]], and they remove his heartbeat from the scan. There is still a single heartbeat unaccounted for: Finney's.
 
   
 
"''All of my old friends look like doctors. All of [[James T. Kirk|his]] look like you.''"
The sound is coming from the B-Deck, in or near [[engineering]]. Kirk goes down with a [[phaser]] to find Finney. Sam Cogley had gone to the planet to bring Jame aboard. The ''Enterprise''{{'}}s orbit begins to decay.
 
  +
: - '''McCoy''', to Shaw
   
[[File:Ben Finney.jpg|thumb|Benjamin Finney, alive, but not well]]
 
Ben Finney believes that Starfleet conspired against him, to rob him of ever getting his own command. He aims a phaser at Kirk, and explains how he planned to destroy the ship.
 
   
  +
"''So that's the way we do it now &ndash; sweep this whole thing under the rug and me along with it! Not on your life. I intend to fight.''"<br/>
Kirk tries to reason with him, but has little success until Finney's resolve is broken upon the revelation that Jame is also aboard and thus also in danger. Spock plans to beam the members of the court back to the planet's surface, but power is failing due to Finney's tampering.
 
  +
"''Then you ''draw'' a general court!''"<br/>
  +
"''Draw it? I demand it! And right now, Commodore Stone,'' right now!"
  +
:- '''Kirk''' and '''Stone''', after Stone labels Kirk an "evident perjurer"
   
As a fight in [[main engineering]] commences, and Kirk finally gets the upper hand. Beaten and sobbing, Finney tells Kirk where he tampered with the controls. Kirk begins attempting repairs.
 
   
  +
"''Areel. Doctor McCoy said you were here. I should have felt it in the air, like static electricity.''"<br/>
On the bridge, Uhura takes the [[helm]] as power returns. They are able to stabilize orbit just in time. The prosecutor has no further arguments, and Kirk is found innocent of all charges.
 
  +
"''Flattery will get you everywhere.''"
 
  +
:- '''Kirk''' and '''Areel Shaw''', reunited after "&hellip;four years, seven months and an odd number of days&hellip;"
As the ''Enterprise'' prepares to depart, Areel tells Kirk that Cogley will now represent Finney in his own trial. She kisses Kirk goodbye, hoping they will see each other again.
 
 
== Memorable Quotes ==
 
"''All of my old friends look like doctors. All of [[James T. Kirk|his]] look like you.''"
 
: - '''McCoy''', to Shaw
 
   
   
  +
"This ''is where the law is. Not in that homogenized, pasteurized, synthesized &ndash; do you want to know the law? The ancient concepts in their own language? Learn the intent of the men who wrote them, from the [[Moses]] to the [[Tribunal of Alpha III]]? Books.''"<br/>
 
"''You have to be either an obsessive crackpot who's escaped from his keeper or Samuel T. Cogley, attorney at law.''"<br />
 
"''You have to be either an obsessive crackpot who's escaped from his keeper or Samuel T. Cogley, attorney at law.''"<br />
  +
"''You're right on both counts!''"
: - '''Kirk''', meeting Cogley for the first time
+
: - '''Kirk''' and '''Cogley''', meeting for the first time
   
   
"''Human beings have characteristics just as inanimate objects do. It is impossible for Captain Kirk to act out of panic or malice. It is not his nature.''"
+
"''Human beings have characteristics, just as inanimate objects do. It is impossible for Captain Kirk to act out of panic or malice. It is not his nature.''"
 
: - '''Spock''', during his testimony
 
: - '''Spock''', during his testimony
   
   
"''Mister Spock, you're the most cold-blooded man I've ever known.''"<br />
+
"''Mr. Spock, you're the most cold-blooded man I've ever known.''"<br />
 
"''Why, thank you, doctor.''"
 
"''Why, thank you, doctor.''"
 
: - '''McCoy''' and '''Spock''', with McCoy unaware that Spock is testing the ship's computer in a chess match (and Spock going out of his way to preserve the misconception)
 
: - '''McCoy''' and '''Spock''', with McCoy unaware that Spock is testing the ship's computer in a chess match (and Spock going out of his way to preserve the misconception)
Line 173: Line 165:
   
   
"''Officers and gentlemen, captains all. Except for Finney and his one mistake.''"
+
"''Officers and gentlemen, captains all! Except for Finney and his ''one'' mistake.''"
 
: - '''Finney''', as he confronts Kirk
 
: - '''Finney''', as he confronts Kirk
   
Line 180: Line 172:
 
: - '''Kirk''' to Spock and McCoy, after kissing Shaw
 
: - '''Kirk''' to Spock and McCoy, after kissing Shaw
   
== Background Information ==
+
== Background information ==
 
=== Script ===
 
=== Script ===
 
* The first draft for this episode's script, titled "Court-martial on Starbase Eleven," was turned in on {{d|21|September|1966}}, with the final draft and revised final draft turned in on [[26 September|26]] and [[29 September]], respectively. The episode was filmed during early [[October 1966|October]] of that year.
 
* The first draft for this episode's script, titled "Court-martial on Starbase Eleven," was turned in on {{d|21|September|1966}}, with the final draft and revised final draft turned in on [[26 September|26]] and [[29 September]], respectively. The episode was filmed during early [[October 1966|October]] of that year.
* Producer [[Gene L. Coon]] contacted writer [[Don M. Mankiewicz]] with a proposal to write a compelling dramatic story which could be filmed using a single and easily constructed set. Mankiewicz came up with the idea of a courtroom drama, and wrote "Court-martial on Starbase Eleven". The script needed to be heavily re-written, but Mankiewicz was not avaiable further, so story editor [[Steven W. Carabatsos]] got the job. It was Carabatsos who shortened the title to "Court Martial". [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_wy7Q4vbhA&feature=related]
+
* Producer [[Gene L. Coon]] contacted writer [[Don M. Mankiewicz]] with a proposal to write a compelling dramatic story which could be filmed using a single and easily constructed set. (For the final episode, of course, four new sets were constructed: Commodore Stone's office, Kirk's quarters on the starbase, the starbase bar, and the courtroom itself). Mankiewicz came up with the idea of a courtroom drama, and wrote "Court-martial on Starbase Eleven". The script needed to be heavily re-written, but Mankiewicz was not available further, so story editor [[Steven W. Carabatsos]] got the job. It was Carabatsos who shortened the title to "Court Martial." {{YouTube|type=v|P_wy7Q4vbhA}}
 
* The changes made in the script make it less apparent as to why Jame Finney's attitude toward Kirk changes back to one of respect so quickly. In the script, she has been reading her father's old letters, and his attitude in them makes her believe that he might pull a stunt like this to get back at Kirk. (In [[James Blish]]'s prose conversion of the installment(see also below), Cogley explains, ''"A man suffering delusions of persecution wants to set down his complaints."'' This explanation was not included in the final version's dialogue.)
* The script for this episode was revised more times than any other in the series, and was also constantly re-written during the filming. This explains many of the omitted scenes, and continuity errors.
 
 
* In the shooting script, there was a scene (filmed but cut) where Jame Finney comes into the engineering room at the end of Kirk and Finney's fight. The appearance of his daughter and his wish to save her are why Finney tells Kirk where he sabotaged the ''Enterprise''. The scene was presumably deleted because the episode was running long. However, the cut necessitated Kirk's voice-over log entry wherein he relates that a beaten and sobbing Finney tells him about the sabotage. [http://www.orionpressfanzines.com/articles/court_martial.htm]
* The changes made in the script make it less apparent as to why Jame Finney's attitude toward Kirk changes back to one of respect so quickly. In the script, she has been reading her father's old letters, and his attitude in them makes her believe that he might pull a stunt like this to get back at Kirk.
 
* In the shooting script, there was a scene (filmed but cut) where Jame Finney comes into the engineering room at the end of Kirk and Finney's fight. The appearance of his daughter and his wish to save her are why Finney tells Kirk where he sabotaged the ''Enterprise''. {{brokenlink|http://www.startrekhistory.com/restoration/lost4.html#CM}} The scene was presumably deleted because the episode was running long. However, the cut necessitated Kirk's voice-over log entry wherein he relates that a broken and sobbing Finney tells him about the sabotage.
 
   
 
=== Props and sets ===
 
=== Props and sets ===
 
* The two-person transporter alcove seen in Stone's office is later seen on [[Deep Space K-7|Space Station K-7]] in {{e|The Trouble with Tribbles}}.
* The "white sound device" is a very 20th century microphone.
 
* A 20th century open-end wrench appears in the engineering room and Ben Finney uses it as a weapon.
 
* The picture on the wall outside Stone's office appears to show the launch of an early [[NASA]] [[rocket]].
 
* Also seen in Stone's office is the two-person transporter alcove. This is later seen on [[Deep Space K-7|Space Station K-7]] in {{e|The Trouble with Tribbles}}.
 
 
* The plants in Stone's office contain pieces of those seen in {{e|The Conscience of the King}} and was later used for the spores in {{e|This Side of Paradise}}.
 
* The plants in Stone's office contain pieces of those seen in {{e|The Conscience of the King}} and was later used for the spores in {{e|This Side of Paradise}}.
 
* The starbase courtroom contains the large reflective Starfleet Command insignia that appears behind all of the admirals the ship communicates with in future episodes.
 
* The starbase courtroom contains the large reflective Starfleet Command insignia that appears behind all of the admirals the ship communicates with in future episodes.
 
* The abstract wall decoration in Kirk's starbase quarters is composed primarily of brightly painted blocks of wood.
 
* The abstract wall decoration in Kirk's starbase quarters is composed primarily of brightly painted blocks of wood.
* The same bell was used in {{TNG|The First Duty}}. {{incite}}
+
* The same bell with which Stone brings the court to order was used in {{TNG|The First Duty}}. (''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion]]'')
* The arm rest/sensor on the court room witness chair later shows up in the ''Enterprise'' briefing room in {{e|Wolf in the Fold}}.
+
* The arm rest/sensor on the courtroom witness chair later shows up in the ''Enterprise'' briefing room in {{e|Wolf in the Fold}}.
  +
* The door through which Spock and McCoy enter the courtroom is one of the few hinged doors seen in the original series.
   
 
=== Cast and characters ===
 
=== Cast and characters ===
*[[James Doohan]] ([[Montgomery Scott|Scotty]]) and [[George Takei]] ([[Hikaru Sulu|Sulu]]) [[Main character non-appearances#Star Trek: The Original Series|do not appear]] in this episode.
+
*[[James Doohan]] ([[Montgomery Scott|Scott]]) and [[George Takei]] ([[Hikaru Sulu|Sulu]]) [[TOS main character non-appearances|do not appear]] in this episode. Sulu was scripted to feature in this installment, although, ultimately, his role in the episode was mostly given to Lieutenant Hansen instead (with a couple of Sulu's scripted lines spoken by Uhura in the final edit of the episode).
*[[Nensi Chandra|Chandra]] would also sit in judgment of {{alt|James T. Kirk}} in [[alternate reality|another timeline]], serving on the [[Starfleet Academy]] board trying that Kirk for his actions regarding the [[Kobayashi Maru scenario]] in {{film|11}}.
+
*A character named [[Nensi Chandra]] sat in judgment of {{alt|James T. Kirk}} in [[alternate reality|another timeline]], serving on the [[Starfleet Academy]] board trying that Kirk for his actions regarding the [[Kobayashi Maru scenario]] in {{film|11}}. That board also included Lt. {{dis|Alice Rawlings|Lieutenant}}, named for the actress who played Jame Finney.
 
* Elisha Cook, Jr. had great difficulty remembering his lines. The speech of his character, Sam Cogley, was pieced together with editing. (''[[Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages]]'')
''That board would also include Lt. [[Alice Rawlings (Lieutenant)|Alice Rawlings]], named for the actress who played Jame Finney.''
 
 
* The actors who portray the members of Kirk's court martial are seen in the bar before Stone even considers convening a court-martial. This incongruity is the result of the shifting of scenes from their order in the script. {{OrionPress|articles/court_martial.htm}} This was done during editing, to quicken up the pace of Act One, as it was considered too slow and uneventful in its original format. (''[[These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One]]'')
* Elisha Cook, Jr. had great difficulty remembering his lines. The speech of his character, Sam Cogley, was pieced together with editing. {{incite}}
 
  +
* This is the third and final time [[Uhura]] takes over the [[navigation]] station. She had previously handled navigation in {{e|The Naked Time}} and {{e|Balance of Terror}}. She can also be seen sitting at navigation at the beginning of {{e|The Man Trap}}, via a recycled shot from "The Naked Time".
* The actors who portray the members of Kirk's court martial are seen in the bar before Stone even considers convening a court-martial. This incongruity is the result of the shifting of scenes from their order in the script. [http://www.fastcopyinc.com/orionpress/articles/court_martial.htm]
 
   
 
=== Costumes ===
 
=== Costumes ===
 
* The dress uniforms debut in this episode.
 
* The dress uniforms debut in this episode.
* The Starfleet crewmen and officers at the bar are seen wearing uniforms with the ''Enterprise'' arrowhead insignia, despite the fact that many (if not all) of them serve on other ships (this is made apparent in dialog – Kirk has not seen Timothy since the "Vulcanian expedition"). Earlier in the series, we saw the crew of ''[[Antares]]'' with an assignment patch for their ship in {{e|Charlie X}}. In later episodes, the series officially established that each Starfleet ship would have its own unique insignia (as seen in {{e|The Omega Glory}}, {{e|The Doomsday Machine}}, and the two-part ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' episode {{e|In a Mirror, Darkly}}.
 
 
* The [[barkeep]] wears the same costume later worn by the [[Deep Space K-7|K-7]] [[bartender]] in {{e|The Trouble with Tribbles}}. The back of the bar contains recycled pieces from the interior of [[Fesarius|Balok's ship]].
 
* The [[barkeep]] wears the same costume later worn by the [[Deep Space K-7|K-7]] [[bartender]] in {{e|The Trouble with Tribbles}}. The back of the bar contains recycled pieces from the interior of [[Fesarius|Balok's ship]].
* Areel Shaw sports the only female dress uniform in the series. It has gold braid on the cuffs as well as a Starfleet breast patch, which the male uniforms do not. The hemline is also somewhat lower than the usual female duty uniforms.
+
* Areel Shaw sports the only female dress uniform ever shown in the series. It has gold braid on the cuffs as well as a Starfleet breast patch, which the male uniforms do not. The hemline is also somewhat lower than the usual female duty uniforms.
* Finney is clearly referred to as a lieutenant commander throughout the episode, but when he finally appears in engineering, he is wearing commander's braid.
 
* The courtroom computer gives Spock's rank as [[lieutenant commander]], but he wears the braids of a [[commander]]. Such was Spock's uniform throughout the first season (except for {{e|Where No Man Has Gone Before}}), even though he was twice more referred to as lieutenant commander in {{e|The Menagerie, Part I}}, {{e|The Menagerie, Part II}} and {{e|Tomorrow is Yesterday}}. This rank discrepancy appears to have been corrected as of {{e|Amok Time}}, when [[Vulcan Space Central]] asks for "Commander Spock."
 
   
 
=== Effects ===
 
=== Effects ===
 
* Stock footage from {{e|The Naked Time}} is used on the viewscreen shots as the ''Enterprise'' re-establishes its orbit around Starbase 11.
 
* Stock footage from {{e|The Naked Time}} is used on the viewscreen shots as the ''Enterprise'' re-establishes its orbit around Starbase 11.
 
* "Court Martial" was the last episode in which the sound of the ship's engines could be heard during fly-bys. However, in the DVD releases, this sound has been added in for all of the rest of the episodes.
 
* "Court Martial" was the last episode in which the sound of the ship's engines could be heard during fly-bys. However, in the DVD releases, this sound has been added in for all of the rest of the episodes.
  +
* After Cogley suggests that Finney is not dead, the scene cuts to the bridge of the ''Enterprise'' via a wipe that is seen nowhere else in the original series as a transition indicating the passage of time. It is, however, used in {{e|Mirror, Mirror}} when the action cuts from the alternate universe to our universe, and back again.
   
=== Other Information ===
+
=== Other information ===
 
* This is the first episode in which the names "[[Starfleet]]" and "[[Starfleet Command]]" were used.
 
* This is the first episode in which the names "[[Starfleet]]" and "[[Starfleet Command]]" were used.
 
* Commodore Stone is the highest-ranking officer portrayed by an African-Canadian actor to appear in the original series. He also commanded a starship at one time.
* This is also TOS's first trip to a [[Federation]] starbase.
 
  +
* The script of this episode described the climactic scene in which Kirk, in a Jefferies tube, frantically tries to fix sabotage to the ''Enterprise''{{'}}s energy circuits in a note stating, "''Desired is same exciting effect obtained in 'The Naked Time' with Scotty in tube.''"
* ''Star Trek'' often portrayed very 1960s attitudes toward women, despite their presence as equals aboard starships. Areel Shaw is an exception – she once loved Kirk, but doesn't let this get in the way of prosecuting him and ending his career in Starfleet. A similar scenario played itself out between Captain [[Jean-Luc Picard]] and JAG Captain [[Phillipa Louvois]] in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode {{e|The Measure Of A Man}}.
 
  +
* Several musical scores are reused in this episode, including some cues from {{e|The Naked Time}} by [[Alexander Courage]], romantic themes by [[Joseph Mullendore]] from {{e|The Conscience of the King}}, used for Kirk and Areel Shaw, and music from {{e|The Enemy Within}} by [[Sol Kaplan]], accompanying the fight between Kirk and Finney.
* Commodore Stone is the highest-ranking African-American to appear in the original series. He also commanded a starship at one time.
 
  +
* Krasnovsky is the only member of the trial board to speak other than Commodore Stone. His single line is "''And when the orbit begins to decay?''"
* We get a look, for the only time in the series, at a series of registration numbers on the chart in Stone's office. [[Greg Jein]] associated them with ten names previously used in production memos which will later be assumed to be {{ShipClass|Constitution}} starships, despite the numbers ranging lower than the {{USS|Constitution}}. The wall chart disappears in a later scene in Stone's office. At the time of this episode, the ''Intrepid'', the all-Vulcan starship, is being repaired at Starbase 11. It is later destroyed by the space amoeba in {{e|The Immunity Syndrome}}.
 
  +
[[File:Starbase 11 ship chart.jpg|thumb|Ship [[registry]] list]]
 
* We get a look, for the only time in the series, at a series of registration numbers on the chart in Stone's office. [[Greg Jein]] associated them with ten names previously used in production memos which will later be assumed to be {{Class|Constitution}} starships, despite the numbers ranging lower than the {{USS|Constitution}}. (''[[The Case of Jonathan Doe Starship]]'') The wall chart disappears in a later scene in Stone's office. At the time of this episode, the {{USS|Intrepid|NCC-1631}}, the all-[[Vulcan]] starship, is being repaired at Starbase 11. It is later destroyed by the [[space amoeba]] in {{e|The Immunity Syndrome}}. Another ship on the list is NCC-1864, later established in ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]'' as the {{USS|Reliant}}.
  +
* A close-up shot of Spock on the bridge (when the ''Enterprise'' regains its orbital position) is recycled from "The Naked Time". {{e|The Enemy Within}} and {{e|The City on the Edge of Forever}} also used the same shot.
   
 
=== Production timeline ===
 
=== Production timeline ===
* Story outline by [[Don M. Mankiewicz]]: {{d|2|May|1966}}
+
* Story outline "Court Martial on Starbase 811" by [[Don M. Mankiewicz]]: {{d|3|May|1966}}
* Revised outline by [[Don M. Mankiewicz]]: {{d|26|June|1966}}
+
* Revised outline: {{d|26|June|1966}}
* Teleplay: {{d|15|July|1966}}
+
* First draft teleplay by Mankiewicz: {{d|15|July|1966}}
* First draft teleplay by [[Don M. Mankiewicz]] and [[Steven W. Carabatsos]]: {{d|19|September|1966}}
+
* Revised first draft teleplay: early-{{m|August|1966}}
  +
* Second draft teleplay: {{d|6|September|1966}}
  +
* First draft teleplay "Court Martial" by [[Steven W. Carabatsos]]: {{d|19|September|1966}}
  +
* Revised draft teleplay by Carabatsos: {{d|21|September|1966}}
  +
* Staff rewrite: {{d|23|September|1966}}
  +
* Final draft teleplay by [[Gene L. Coon]]: {{d|26|September|1966}}
  +
* Additional revisions: {{d|27|September|1966}}, {{d|29|September|1966}}, {{d|3|October|1966}}
  +
* Filmed: {{d|3|October|1966}} &ndash; {{d|11|October|1966}}
  +
** Day 1 &ndash; {{d|3|October|1966}}, Monday &ndash; [[Desilu Stage 9]]: Int. [[Stone (Commodore)|Stone's office]], [[Briefing room]]
  +
** Day 2 &ndash; {{d|4|October|1966}}, Tuesday &ndash; [[Desilu Stage 9]]: Int. [[Starbase 11|Kirk's guest quarters]], [[Engineering]]
  +
** Day 3 &ndash; {{d|5|October|1966}}, Wednesday &ndash; [[Desilu Stage 9]]: Int. [[Engineering]], [[Corridor]]s, [[Jefferies tube]], [[Bridge]]
  +
** Day 4 &ndash; {{d|6|October|1966}}, Thursday &ndash; [[Desilu Stage 9]]: Int. [[Bridge]]
  +
** Day 5 &ndash; {{d|7|October|1966}}, Friday &ndash; [[Desilu Stage 10]]: Int. [[Starbase 11|Officers' lounge]], [[Courtroom]]
  +
** Day 6 &ndash; {{d|10|October|1966}}, Monday &ndash; [[Desilu Stage 10]]: Int. [[Courtroom]]
  +
** Day 7 &ndash; {{d|11|October|1966}}, Tuesday (Half Day) &ndash; [[Desilu Stage 10]]: Int. [[Courtroom]]
  +
* Original airdate: {{d|2|February|1967}}
  +
* First UK airdate: {{d|6|April|1970}}
   
 
=== Video and DVD releases ===
 
=== Video and DVD releases ===
*Original US Betamax release: {{y|1985}}.
+
*Original US Betamax release: {{y|1985}}
 
*[[Star Trek VHS releases in the UK|UK VHS release]] (two-episode tapes, [[CIC Video]]): [[TOS Season 1 UK VHS|Volume 8]], catalog number VHR 2258, ''release date unknown''
 
*[[Star Trek VHS releases in the UK|UK VHS release]] (two-episode tapes, [[CIC Video]]): [[TOS Season 1 UK VHS|Volume 8]], catalog number VHR 2258, ''release date unknown''
 
*US VHS release: {{d|15|April|1994}}
 
*US VHS release: {{d|15|April|1994}}
Line 238: Line 244:
 
*Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 7, {{d|22|February|2000}}
 
*Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 7, {{d|22|February|2000}}
 
*As part of the [[TOS Season 1 DVD]] collection
 
*As part of the [[TOS Season 1 DVD]] collection
*As part of the [[TOS Season 1 HD-DVD]] collection.
+
*As part of the [[TOS Season 1 HD DVD]] collection
* As part of the [[TOS Season 1 Blu-ray]] collection.
+
*As part of the [[TOS Season 1 Blu-ray]] collection
  +
  +
===Remastered information===
  +
When the episode was remastered for the [[TOS Season 1 HD DVD]], an opening shot of the ''Enterprise'' clearly reveals the hole where the ion pod used to be.
   
 
== Links and references ==
 
== Links and references ==
Line 248: Line 257:
 
* [[Leonard Nimoy]] as Mr. [[Spock]]
 
* [[Leonard Nimoy]] as Mr. [[Spock]]
   
=== Co-Starring ===
+
=== Co-starring ===
* [[Percy Rodriguez]] as Portmaster [[Stone (Commodore)|Stone]]
+
* [[Percy Rodriguez]] as Portmaster {{dis|Stone|Commodore}}
 
* [[Elisha Cook]] as [[Samuel T. Cogley|Cogley]]
 
* [[Elisha Cook]] as [[Samuel T. Cogley|Cogley]]
 
* [[Joan Marshall]] as Lt. [[Areel Shaw]]
 
* [[Joan Marshall]] as Lt. [[Areel Shaw]]
Line 257: Line 266:
 
* [[Nichelle Nichols]] as [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]]
 
* [[Nichelle Nichols]] as [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]]
 
* [[Richard Webb]] as [[Benjamin Finney|Finney]]
 
* [[Richard Webb]] as [[Benjamin Finney|Finney]]
* [[Hagan Beggs]] as the [[Hansen (Lieutenant)|helmsman]]
+
* [[Hagan Beggs]] as the {{dis|Hansen|Lieutenant|helmsman}}
* [[Winston DeLugo]] as [[Timothy (Lieutenant)|Timothy]]
+
* [[Winston DeLugo]] as {{dis|Timothy|Lieutenant}}
:And
+
;And
 
* [[Alice Rawlings]] as [[Jame Finney]]
 
* [[Alice Rawlings]] as [[Jame Finney]]
   
 
=== With ===
 
=== With ===
* [[Nancy Wong]] as the [[Unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel#Personnel officer|personnel officer]]
+
* [[Nancy Wong]] as the [[USS Enterprise operations personnel officer|personnel officer]]
 
* [[Bart Conrad]] as [[Krasnovsky]]
 
* [[Bart Conrad]] as [[Krasnovsky]]
* [[William Meader]] as a [[Lindstrom (Captain)|board officer]]
+
* [[William Meader]] as a {{dis|Lindstrom|Captain|board officer}}
* [[Reginald Lal Singh]] as a [[Nensi Chandra|board officer]]
+
* [[Reginald Lal Singh]] as a {{dis|Chandra|Captain|board officer}}
   
 
=== Uncredited co-stars ===
 
=== Uncredited co-stars ===
Line 273: Line 282:
 
* [[Tom Curtis]] as [[Corrigan]]
 
* [[Tom Curtis]] as [[Corrigan]]
 
* [[Frank da Vinci]] as [[Brent]]
 
* [[Frank da Vinci]] as [[Brent]]
 
* [[Denise Okuda]] as an [[USS Enterprise operations crewmember in window|''Enterprise'' operations division crewmember]] (remastered)
* [[Larry Riddle]] as [[Starbase 11 personnel#Bar patron|an officer Kirk collides with at bar]]
 
* [[Unknown performers]] as:
+
* [[Unknown actor]]s as
 
** [[Mike]]
 
** [[Mike]]
 
** [[Teller]]
 
** [[Teller]]
  +
** [[USS Enterprise crewman 6|''Enterprise'' crewman]]
** [[Lewis]]
 
  +
** [[USS Enterprise operations security guard 27|''Enterprise'' security guard]]
* [[Denise Okuda]] as an [[Unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel#Crewmember in window|operations division crewmember]] (remastered)
 
  +
** [[USS Enterprise operations security lieutenant 1|''Enterprise'' security lieutenant]]
  +
** [[Starbase 11 patron 001|Starbase 11 bar patrons 1]], [[Starbase 11 patron 002|2]], [[Starbase 11 patron 003|3]], [[Starbase 11 patron 004|4]], [[Starbase 11 patron 005|5]], [[Starbase 11 patron 006|6]], [[Starbase 11 patron 007|7]], [[Starbase 11 patron 008|8]], and [[Starbase 11 patron 009|9]]
  +
** [[Starbase 11 bartender 001|Starbase 11 bartender]]
  +
** [[Starbase 11 clerk 001|Starbase 11 clerk]]
  +
** [[Starbase 11 waitress 001|Starbase 11 waitress]]
   
 
=== Stunt doubles ===
 
=== Stunt doubles ===
* [[Chuck Clow]] as Shatner's [[stunt double]]
+
* [[Chuck Clow]] as [[stunt double]] for William Shatner
* [[Troy Melton]] as Webb's stunt double
+
* [[Troy Melton]] as stunt double for Richard Webb
   
 
=== References ===
 
=== References ===
  +
[[2250s]]; [[2254]]; [[2262]]; [[affection]]; [[Agena target vehicle]]; [[alert status]]; "[[Idiom|all right]]"; [[Alpha III]]; [[answer]]; "[[Idiom|as a result]]"; [[atomic matter pile]]; [[attorney]]; [[attorney at law]]; [[auditory sensor]]; {{dis|Axanar|planet}}; [[Axanar Peace Mission]]; [[Constitution class decks|B deck]]; [[bench]]; [[Bible]]; {{dis|bishop|chess}}; "[[Bones]]"; [[book]]; [[booster]]; [[briefing room]]; [[career]]; [[case]]; [[chance]]; {{dis|charge|law}}; [[checkmate]]; [[chess]]; [[circuit]]; [[client]]; [[clerk]]; [[Code of Hammurabi]]; [[Code of Justinian]]; [[cold-blooded]]; [[command crew]]; [[commanding officer]]; [[computer]]; [[computer log]]; [[computer log extract]]; [[computer transcript]]; [[concept]]; [[conclusion]]; [[confidence]]; [[conspiracy]]; [[Constitution class decks|''Constitution''-class decks]]; ''[[Constitution of the United States]]''; [[counsel]] ([[counsel for the defense]]; [[counsel for the prosecution]]); [[course]]; [[court]]; [[court martial board]]; [[courtroom]]; [[crackpot]]; [[cross-examination]]; [[culpable negligence]]; [[damage]]; [[danger]]; [[day]]; [[death]]; [[decapitation]]; [[defendant]]; {{dis|defense|law}}; [[deposition]]; [[discipline]]; [[disciplinary action]]; [[physician|doctor]]; [[document]]; [[duty roster]]; [[effect]]; [[engine crew]]; {{dis|error|concept}}; [[evidence]]; "[[Idiom|excuse me]]"; [[experience]]; [[experiment]]; [[fact]]; [[failure]]; [[death#faking death|faking death]]; [[Finney's mother 001|Finney's mother]]; "[[Idiom|fire away]]"; [[first edition]]; [[first officer]]; [[flattery]]; [[force seven]]; [[framing]]; [[friend]]; [[friendship]]; [[Fundamental Declarations of the Martian colonies]]; ''[[Gemini 8]]''; [[general court martial]]; [[graduating class]]; [[ground assignment]]; {{dis|guilt|law}}; [[hammer]]; [[Hammurabi]]; [[hate|hatred]]; [[heartbeat]]; [[Human]] (Humanity); [[Human characteristic]]; [[Human rights]]; [[impulse engine]]; [[inanimate object]]; "[[Idiom|in effect]]"; [[information system]]; [[inquiry]]; "[[Idiom|in progress]]": "[[Idiom|in session]]"; [[instruction]]; [[instructor]]; "[[Idiom|in the event]]"; {{USSr|Intrepid|NCC-1631}}; [[intuition]]; [[ion plate]]; [[ion pod]]; [[ion storm]]; [[jettison button]]; [[job]]; [[Jones]]; [[Judge Advocate General]]; [[Justinian]]; [[king]]; [[kiss]]; [[language]]; [[law]]; [[lawyer]]; [[layover]]; [[legal decision]]; [[letter]]; [[library]]; [[logic]]; [[M-11]]; [[M-11 Starbase Club]]; [[machine]]; [[Magna Carta]]; [[magnification]]; [[Maintenance Section Eighteen]]; [[malfunction]]; [[malice]]; [[Martian colonies]]; [[megalite survey]]; [[memory bank]]; [[mental collapse]]; [[meteorology]]; [[midshipman]]; [[million]]; [[mind]]; [[minute]]; [[mistake]]; [[month]]; [[Moses]]; {{dis|motion|law}}; [[murderer]]; [[mysticism|mystic]]; [[name]]; [[name#namesake|namesake]]; [[nature]]; [[neck]]; [[objection]]; [[obsession]]; [[odd number]]; [[office]]; "[[Idiom|on the other hand]]"; [[opportunity]]; [[orbit]]; [[panel]]; [[pasteurization]]; [[pattern]]; [[pawn]]; [[perjury]]; [[person]]; [[personnel officer]]; [[phase 1 search]]; ''[[Picasso]]''; [[place]]; [[planet]]; [[plea]]; [[portmaster]]; [[gravity|positive gravity]]; [[power]]; {{dis|precedent|law}}; [[prejudice]]; [[President of the Court]]; [[pressure]]; [[primary energy circuit]]; [[program bank]]; [[programming]]; [[promotion list]]; [[proof]]; [[prosecutor|prosecution]]; [[psychology]]; [[records officer]]; [[red alert]]; [[relationship]]; [[reprimand]]; {{USSr|Republic}}; [[rights]]; [[risk]]; [[rook]]; [[rug]]; [[rumor]]; [[scandal]]; [[science officer]]; [[search]]; [[second]]; [[Section 18Y]]; [[Section 23D]]; [[serial number]]; [[service record]]; ''[[Setar]]''; [[ship's surgeon]]; [[sitting]]; [[Smith]]; [[sobbing]]; [[sound]]; [[space]]; [[Space Command Representative]]; [[space regulations]]; [[speculation]]; [[stalemate]]; [[witness stand|stand]]; "[[Idiom|stand by]]"; [[star]]; [[Starbase 11]]; [[Starfleet Academy]]; [[Starfleet Command]]; [[static electricity]]; [[Statutes of Alpha III]]; [[subject]]; "[[Idiom|sweep it under the rug]]"; "[[Idiom|talk shop]]"; [[testimony]]; "[[Idiom|thank you]]"; [[Titan II]]; [[thing]]; [[thousand]]; [[three-dimensional chess]]; [[trade]]; [[training]]; [[trial]]; [[Tribunal of Alpha III]]; [[verdict]]; [[Vulcanian]]s; [[Vulcanian expedition]]; [[weatherscan]]; [[wheel]]; [[white-sound device]]; [[witness]]; [[year]]; [[yellow alert]]; ''[[Yorkshire]]''
[[2250s]]; [[2254]]; [[2262]]; [[atomic matter pile]]; [[auditory sensor]]; [[Axanar Peace Mission]]; [[Bible]]; [[Code of Hammurabi]]; [[court martial]]; [[deposition]]; [[Fundamental Declarations of the Martian colonies]]; [[Grankite Order of Tactics]]; [[USS Intrepid (NCC-1631)|''Intrepid'', USS]]; [[ion pod]]; [[ion storm]]; [[Justinian Code]]; [[Karagite Order of Heroism]]; [[M-11 Starbase Club]]; [[Magna Carta]]; [[megalite survey]]; [[midshipman]]; [[Mike]]; [[Moses]]; [[Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission]]; [[perjury]]; [[Phase 1 search]]; [[Prentares Ribbon of Commendation]]; [[records officer]]; [[red alert]]; [[USS Republic|''Republic'', USS]]; [[signal booster]]; [[Starbase 11]]; [[Starfleet Academy]]; [[Starfleet Command]]; [[Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry]]; [[Starfleet Legion of Honor]]; [[Starfleet Medal of Honor]]; [[Starfleet Silver Palm]]; [[Starfleet Surgeons Decoration]]; [[Teller]]; [[Titan II]]; [[three-dimensional chess]]; [[Tribunal of Alpha III]]; [[United States Constitution]]; [[Vulcanian expedition]]; [[Vulcanian Scientific Legion of Honor]]; [[white sound device]]; [[yellow alert]]; ''[[Yorkshire]]''
 
   
=== External link ===
+
==== Awards and decorations ====
  +
[[Award of Valor]]; [[commendation]]; [[decoration]]; [[Grankite Order of Tactics]], class of excellence; [[Karagite Order of Heroism]]; [[Legion of Honor]]; [[Medal of Honor]]; [[Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission]]; [[Prentares Ribbon of Commendation]], classes first and second; [[Silver Palm with Cluster]]; [[Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry]]; [[Starfleet Surgeons]]; [[Vulcanian Scientific Legion of Honor]];
* {{NCwiki|Court Martial|Court Martial}}
 
   
  +
==== Starship repair references ====
{{TOS nav|season=1|last={{e|The Galileo Seven}}|next={{e|The Menagerie, Part I}}|lastair={{e|Tomorrow is Yesterday}}|nextair={{e|The Return of the Archons}}|lastair_remastered={{e|Assignment: Earth}}|nextair_remastered={{e|A Private Little War}}}}
 
  +
{{USSr|Exeter|NCC-1672}}; {{USSr|Hood|NCC-1703}}; {{USSr|Lexington|NCC-1709}}; [[NCC-1685]]; [[NCC-1697]]; [[NCC-1700]]; [[NCC-1718]]; [[NCC-1831]]; {{USSr|Reliant}}
   
  +
==== Unreferenced materials ====
{{featured}}
 
  +
[[chief]] [[judge]]; [[coffee]]; [[conference room]]; [[delusion]]s; [[persecution complex|delusions of persecution]]; [[double red alert]]; [[evolution]]; [[gavel]]; [[Sherlock Holmes|Holmes]]; [[Indian]]; [[luck]]; [[neck]]; [[quadrant]]s; {{revname|Janice|Rand}}; [[stun setting|stun]]; [[Vulcan language]]; [[weapons room]]
  +
  +
=== External links ===
  +
* {{Startrek.com|court-martial|"Court Martial"}}
 
* {{mbeta-quote|Court Martial}}
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* {{wikipedia-quote|Court Martial (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Court Martial}}
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* {{ml|court-martial|"Court Martial"|external}}
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{{TOS nav|season=1|last={{e|The Galileo Seven}}|next={{e|The Menagerie, Part I}}|lastair={{e|Tomorrow is Yesterday}}|nextair={{e|The Return of the Archons}}|lastair_remastered={{e|Assignment: Earth}}|nextair_remastered={{e|A Private Little War}}}}
   
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{{featured|date=May 2005|id=94136}}
 
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[[it:Corte marziale (episodio)]]
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[[ja:宇宙軍法会議(エピソード)]]
 
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Revision as of 02:56, 30 May 2020

Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

Template:Sidebar episode/temp Kirk is accused of criminal negligence causing the death of one of his subordinates, Lt. Commander Benjamin Finney, and is put on trial for his murder.

Summary

Teaser

Picasso inspects the Enterprise

The Picasso inspects the Enterprise

"Captain's log, stardate 2947.3. We have been through a severe ion storm. One crewman is dead. The ship's damage is considerable. I have ordered a nonscheduled layover on Starbase 11 for repairs. A full report of damages was made to the commanding officer of Starbase 11, Commodore Stone."

On the surface-based facility of Starbase 11, Commodore Stone is advising Maintenance Section 18 to reschedule their repairs to the USS Intrepid to give the USS Enterprise priority one. Captain Kirk is reading – for the third time – a copy of his sworn deposition on the events that led to the death of records officer Benjamin Finney. While waiting for Spock to arrive with an excerpt of the computer log, Kirk explains that he waited until the last possible moment but, with the ship on red alert, the ion storm got worse. Kirk had to eject the ion pod containing Finney, to his death.

Spock finally beams down ten minutes late with the computer records, which Stone takes; shortly afterward, Jame Finney enters and names Kirk as "the man who killed my father." She shrieks at him and breaks down into tears. Stone asks Spock to escort the girl out of the room, but then accuses Kirk of committing willful perjury – the computer records show that Kirk ejected the pod before placing the ship on red alert. Stone orders Kirk to remain on Starbase 11 for an inquiry on whether a general court martial is in order.

Act One

"Captain's log, stardate 2948.5. Starship Enterprise remains in orbit around Starbase 11. Full repair is in progress. I have been ordered to stand by on Starbase 11 until the inquiry into the death of Lieutenant Commander Finney can be conducted. I am confident of the outcome."

Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy walk into the M-11 Starbase Club on Starbase 11, and meet up with several members of Kirk's graduating class from the Academy, including Corrigan, Teller, Timothy, and Mike. Several claim to be concerned about how long they are staying, but Kirk realizes they already have made up their minds that he was indeed responsible for Finney's death.

As Kirk leaves, Areel Shaw enters, just missing her. Dr. McCoy introduces himself and they find they are both mutual friends of Kirk, McCoy saying of himself, "In these trying times, one of the few." He notes that soon, Kirk will need all the friends he can get.

In Commodore Stone's office, Stone begins the inquiry. Kirk starts by describing his relationship with Finney, including the fact that he taught at Starfleet Academy when Kirk was a midshipman, and that his daughter was named after him.

But a number of years later, while they both served together on the USS Republic, Kirk says that Finney left a circuit open to the atomic matter piles that should have been closed. Another five minutes and he could have blown up the ship. Kirk closed the switch and logged the incident, and Finney drew a reprimand and was sent to the bottom of the promotion list. Kirk says that Finney believed that Kirk's action delayed Finney's assignment to a starship and ultimately to command.

They turn to the ion storm. Kirk says he chose Finney to occupy the ion pod solely because the duty roster said it was Finney's turn. Finney entered the pod just before the Enterprise reached the leading edge of the storm. Kirk signaled yellow alert. Due to "pressure, variant stress, force seven, the works," Kirk signaled red alert. This alerted Finney to exit the pod, and Kirk said he delayed even longer before finally ejecting the pod. Stone reminds Kirk that the logs show he ejected the pod before signaling red alert. Kirk cannot explain that, but says it is next to impossible that the computer is wrong.

Commodore Stone stops the recording, and suggests that perhaps stress and time as commanding officer of the Enterprise have worn Kirk down. Stone offers Kirk a report that will lead to a ground assignment if Kirk does admit responsibility. Stone says it would smear Starfleet if a starship captain were to be court-martialed. However, Kirk is insulted by the idea of covering up the incident, and responds, "So that's the way we do it now – sweep this whole thing under the rug, and me along with it! Not on your life. I intend to fight!" This decision angers Stone, who says in retort, "Then you draw a general court!" Kirk replies, "Draw it? I demand it! And right now, Commodore Stone; right now!"

Act Two

"Captain's log, stardate 2948.9. The officers who will comprise my court martial board are proceeding to Starbase 11. Meanwhile, repairs on the Enterprise are almost complete."
Areel Shaw

Prosecutor Areel Shaw

Kirk meets with his old friend, Areel, whom he has not seen in "four years, seven months, and an odd number of days," Shaw states. She warns him that he appears to be taking the case very lightly, which he attributes to "the confidence of an innocent man". She says that the prosecution will argue "Kirk vs. the computer", on which basis he would most certainly lose.

He asks her to be his attorney, but she protests to being too busy with another case. She recommends Samuel T. Cogley. He asks her how she knows so much about what the prosecution is going to do. She reveals that she is the prosecuting officer… and that she will have to do her very best to have him broken out of the service in disgrace. She leaves the bar, abruptly.

In Kirk's temporary quarters on Starbase 11, a man has set up shop with hundreds of bound books, which he argues is "where the law is", along with the intent of its writers, not in a computer, which he has but never uses. Kirk declares that the man is either an "obsessive crackpot" or Samuel T. Cogley, Attorney-at-Law. Cogley says Kirk is right on both counts and agrees to take the captain's case. Cogley does not inspire much confidence from Kirk, however convinced he is that Shaw might have meant well.

Starbase 11 courtroom

In court

Captain Kirk's court martial begins, with Commodore Stone presiding and with Starfleet Command representative Lindstrom, and starship Captains Krasnovsky and Chandra. Kirk does not object to the personnel, and consents to both the services of Shaw as prosecutor and Stone as judge. After the computer lists the charges and specifications that have been formally proffered against him, Kirk formally pleads not guilty.

Shaw questions Spock

Shaw questions Commander Spock

Lieutenant Shaw calls Spock to the stand. After the computer reads off his service file, Shaw asks Commander Spock how much he knows about computers. Spock says, "I know all about them." Shaw asks Spock if he knows of any malfunction that caused an inaccuracy in the Enterprise computer, and Spock says he does not. "But the computer is inaccurate, nevertheless," he adds. Shaw clarifies that the computer reports that Kirk was reacting to an extreme emergency that did not then exist. Spock says that is impossible based on his knowledge of Kirk, which he insists is not speculation. Spock says that Kirk's characteristics are as predictable as gravity, and do not include panic or malice. Shaw finishes by getting Spock to admit that this is all his opinion. Cogley chooses not to cross-examine him.

Lieutenant Shaw then calls the personnel officer of the Enterprise to the stand. She confirms that when Kirk was an ensign on the Republic with Finney, Kirk's log entry cost Finney a promotion. Cogley has no questions for this witness, either.

Lieutenant Shaw then calls ship's surgeon Dr. Leonard McCoy to the stand. She claims that he is an expert in space psychology and the mental effects of long-term space travel; as he considers himself no such expert, he concedes in his response, "I know something about it." She then asks McCoy if it was possible that, if Finney hated Kirk, Kirk reciprocated by hating Finney. McCoy is adamant that Kirk is not that kind of a man, but Shaw forces McCoy to admit that it is possible. Again, Cogley does not cross-examine.

Commodore Stone questions Cogley's failure to cross-examine any of the prosecution witnesses, but Cogley calls their testimony "preliminary business" and calls Kirk himself to the stand. The computer begins to list Kirk's service record and awards. Shaw tries to halt this, conceding Kirk's "inestimable record," but Cogley insists that the wheels of progress not run over his client, though he relents once a few more honors are recited.

Cogley asks Kirk if there was indeed a red alert before the pod was jettisoned, despite what the computers said. Kirk states that there was, and that he would do it again, because his actions were absolutely necessary for the safety of his ship.

Stone (Commodore)

Commodore Stone presides over the court martial

In cross-examination, Shaw plays the video playback from the bridge of the Enterprise on stardate 2945.7. The footage shows Finney being posted to the pod, and the Enterprise going to yellow alert after encountering the ion storm. Shaw then magnifies a panel on the right side of Kirk's command chair. The video playback shows that Kirk did in fact launch the pod before signaling red alert. A shocked and horrified Kirk insists, his voice a bare whisper as he does, "But that's not the way it happened."

Act Three

"Captain's log, stardate 2949.9. The evidence presented by the visual playback to my general court-martial was damning. I suspect even my attorney has begun to doubt me."

Back in Kirk's quarters on the starbase, Cogley suggests that maybe Kirk did have a lapse in memory, and that they can still change their plea. Kirk allows himself a moment of self-doubt, but concludes, "No! I know what I did!"

Spock contacts Kirk from the Enterprise, saying that he ran a megalite survey on the computer. Kirk guesses the results: Nothing. Kirk thanks Spock but has no further orders for him, only speculation that Spock will be able to defeat his next commanding officer at chess, and closes the channel. Spock repeats that word thoughtfully and leaves the bridge.

Jame Finney enters, asking Cogley to make Kirk change his plea and take a ground assignment. Cogley calls Jame's change of heart unusual, but Jame says she has been reading through old letters to her and her mother, in which Benjamin Finney talked about how close he was to Kirk. Kirk leaves to change into his dress uniform, while Cogley formulates an idea.

Back on the Enterprise, Spock is playing a game of three-dimensional chess with the computer in the briefing room. Dr. McCoy walks in and, irritated, calls Spock cold-blooded for playing chess while their captain's career is hanging in the balance. After thanking McCoy for the compliment, Spock adds that he has just won four games in a row against the computer. That announcement catches Dr. McCoy short and retorts that is impossible: Spock had programmed the computer himself, he himself states the best he should have been able to attain was a draw. The two men immediately prepare to beam down to Starbase 11 with the new information that the program bank shows evidence of being tampered.

File:SamuelCogley.jpg

Defense Attorney Samuel T. Cogley

The court martial is back in session, and both the prosecution and defense both rest their cases. Just then, Spock and McCoy enter and whisper to Cogley and Kirk. Cogley now tells the court that he has new evidence that he cannot tell the court but must show it. Shaw objects that Cogley had rested his case and is now attempting "theatrics". Roused to anger against machines, Cogley enumerates, with passion, a long list of historical precepts which maintain that an accused man has the right to confront the witnesses against him. In this case, the most damning witness is the computer of the Enterprise. Cogley moves, and indeed demands both in his rage and "in the name of a Humanity fading in the shadow of the machine," that the court reconvene aboard the Enterprise lest it elevate the computer above Humanity.

Act Four

"Captain's log, stardate 2950.1. After due consideration, the general court-martial has reconvened on board the Enterprise."

In the briefing room, Spock testifies that he has now won five games of chess against the computer, to which he gave a knowledge of the game equal to his own and which, assuming that neither he nor it commits any mistakes, should have led to a best result of successive stalemates; it has not. Spock concludes that someone, either accidentally or deliberately, adjusted its programming and therefore its memory banks. The only people who could have done it are Kirk, Spock himself, and the records officer, who, at the time, was Lieutenant Commander Finney.

Cogley turns to Kirk to describe the search for Finney after the storm. Kirk says it was a phase one search, a painstaking effort to find a crewman who may be unable to respond. Cogley notes that it presupposes that the crewman wishes to be found. After all, he explains, when searching for someone it is natural to assume that the someone wants to be found, and is not hiding. Kirk admits, much to Shaw's shock and horror, when Cogley asks him, that it is possible that, on a ship of this size, a man could evade such a search. Cogley declares, "Gentlemen, I submit to you that Lieutenant Commander Ben Finney is not dead!"

The court demands an explanation, and Cogley defers to Kirk to conduct an experiment. Kirk orders all but the command crew and the court to beam off the Enterprise to the surface, including Cogley, who says he has an errand of vital importance to the business of this court.

Court martial officials on bridge

Stone hears Finney's heartbeat

The crew leaves, the impulse engines are shut down, and the ship orbits Starbase 11 by momentum, though Kirk assures the court they will be finished long before the Enterprise's orbit starts to decay. Spock uses the ship's auditory sensors to amplify the heartbeats of all aboard, and McCoy uses a white-sound device to mask the heartbeats of all aboard the bridge. After masking the crewman in the transporter room, a single heartbeat is still heard, coming from the B-Deck, in or near engineering. Kirk orders that area sealed and goes down with a phaser to find Finney. The Enterprise's orbit begins to decay.

Benjamin Finney

Benjamin Finney, alive, but not well

In main engineering, Kirk encounters a crazed Ben Finney, who explains that Kirk and Starfleet conspired to rob him of his own command. He aims a phaser at Kirk, but says that Kirk's death would mean too little to the captain, losing his ship would be far worse. Finney has also tapped out the primary energy circuits and intends to destroy the ship.

Shaw and Kirk, 2267

"Goodbye, Jim."

Kirk tries to reason with Finney, but they begin fighting in main engineering. Spock tells members of the court that time is running out to beam back to the planet, but Stone regards Finney as a witness that the court should finish hearing.

However, Sam Cogley's errand on the planet was to bring Jame aboard. Kirk asks Ben Finney whether he also intends to kill his daughter, and gets the upper hand. Beaten and sobbing, Finney tells Kirk where he tampered with the controls. Kirk begins attempting repairs in a Jefferies tube.

On the bridge, Lieutenant Uhura takes the navigation console as power returns. Lieutenant Hansen is able to have the Enterprise's orbit stabilized and Stone rules that the court is dismissed, to which Shaw has absolutely no objection.

As the Enterprise prepares to depart, Shaw delivers a gift from Cogley to Kirk on the bridge: a book. Cogley himself is busy, now representing Finney in his own trial. Peering around the bridge, she innocently asks if her, a lieutenant; kisses a starship captain on the bridge of his ship, would cause a complete breakdown of discipline. Kirk grants it and delivers a passionate kiss on the bridge, noting that nothing happens and discipline continues. Kirk wishes Shaw better luck next time, but Shaw counters that she had pretty good luck in losing the current case. Kirk returns to his chair with Spock and McCoy flanking him. "She's a very good lawyer," Kirk says. "Obviously," Spock replies. "Indeed she is," McCoy adds. The Enterprise departs Starbase 11 and continues its mission.

Memorable quotes

"Consider yourself confined to the base. An official inquiry will determine whether a general court martial is in order!"

- Stone, to Kirk


"All of my old friends look like doctors. All of his look like you."

- McCoy, to Shaw


"So that's the way we do it now – sweep this whole thing under the rug and me along with it! Not on your life. I intend to fight."
"Then you draw a general court!"
"Draw it? I demand it! And right now, Commodore Stone, right now!"

- Kirk and Stone, after Stone labels Kirk an "evident perjurer"


"Areel. Doctor McCoy said you were here. I should have felt it in the air, like static electricity."
"Flattery will get you everywhere."

- Kirk and Areel Shaw, reunited after "…four years, seven months and an odd number of days…"


"This is where the law is. Not in that homogenized, pasteurized, synthesized – do you want to know the law? The ancient concepts in their own language? Learn the intent of the men who wrote them, from the Moses to the Tribunal of Alpha III? Books."
"You have to be either an obsessive crackpot who's escaped from his keeper or Samuel T. Cogley, attorney at law."
"You're right on both counts!"

- Kirk and Cogley, meeting for the first time


"Human beings have characteristics, just as inanimate objects do. It is impossible for Captain Kirk to act out of panic or malice. It is not his nature."

- Spock, during his testimony


"Mr. Spock, you're the most cold-blooded man I've ever known."
"Why, thank you, doctor."

- McCoy and Spock, with McCoy unaware that Spock is testing the ship's computer in a chess match (and Spock going out of his way to preserve the misconception)


"I speak of rights. A machine has none. A man must!"

- Cogley, to the court martial panel


"Officers and gentlemen, captains all! Except for Finney and his one mistake."

- Finney, as he confronts Kirk


"She's a very good lawyer."

- Kirk to Spock and McCoy, after kissing Shaw

Background information

Script

  • The first draft for this episode's script, titled "Court-martial on Starbase Eleven," was turned in on 21 September 1966, with the final draft and revised final draft turned in on 26 and 29 September, respectively. The episode was filmed during early October of that year.
  • Producer Gene L. Coon contacted writer Don M. Mankiewicz with a proposal to write a compelling dramatic story which could be filmed using a single and easily constructed set. (For the final episode, of course, four new sets were constructed: Commodore Stone's office, Kirk's quarters on the starbase, the starbase bar, and the courtroom itself). Mankiewicz came up with the idea of a courtroom drama, and wrote "Court-martial on Starbase Eleven". The script needed to be heavily re-written, but Mankiewicz was not available further, so story editor Steven W. Carabatsos got the job. It was Carabatsos who shortened the title to "Court Martial." [1]
  • The changes made in the script make it less apparent as to why Jame Finney's attitude toward Kirk changes back to one of respect so quickly. In the script, she has been reading her father's old letters, and his attitude in them makes her believe that he might pull a stunt like this to get back at Kirk. (In James Blish's prose conversion of the installment(see also below), Cogley explains, "A man suffering delusions of persecution wants to set down his complaints." This explanation was not included in the final version's dialogue.)
  • In the shooting script, there was a scene (filmed but cut) where Jame Finney comes into the engineering room at the end of Kirk and Finney's fight. The appearance of his daughter and his wish to save her are why Finney tells Kirk where he sabotaged the Enterprise. The scene was presumably deleted because the episode was running long. However, the cut necessitated Kirk's voice-over log entry wherein he relates that a beaten and sobbing Finney tells him about the sabotage. [2]

Props and sets

  • The two-person transporter alcove seen in Stone's office is later seen on Space Station K-7 in "The Trouble with Tribbles".
  • The plants in Stone's office contain pieces of those seen in "The Conscience of the King" and was later used for the spores in "This Side of Paradise".
  • The starbase courtroom contains the large reflective Starfleet Command insignia that appears behind all of the admirals the ship communicates with in future episodes.
  • The abstract wall decoration in Kirk's starbase quarters is composed primarily of brightly painted blocks of wood.
  • The same bell with which Stone brings the court to order was used in TNG: "The First Duty". (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
  • The arm rest/sensor on the courtroom witness chair later shows up in the Enterprise briefing room in "Wolf in the Fold".
  • The door through which Spock and McCoy enter the courtroom is one of the few hinged doors seen in the original series.

Cast and characters

Costumes

  • The dress uniforms debut in this episode.
  • The barkeep wears the same costume later worn by the K-7 bartender in "The Trouble with Tribbles". The back of the bar contains recycled pieces from the interior of Balok's ship.
  • Areel Shaw sports the only female dress uniform ever shown in the series. It has gold braid on the cuffs as well as a Starfleet breast patch, which the male uniforms do not. The hemline is also somewhat lower than the usual female duty uniforms.

Effects

  • Stock footage from "The Naked Time" is used on the viewscreen shots as the Enterprise re-establishes its orbit around Starbase 11.
  • "Court Martial" was the last episode in which the sound of the ship's engines could be heard during fly-bys. However, in the DVD releases, this sound has been added in for all of the rest of the episodes.
  • After Cogley suggests that Finney is not dead, the scene cuts to the bridge of the Enterprise via a wipe that is seen nowhere else in the original series as a transition indicating the passage of time. It is, however, used in "Mirror, Mirror" when the action cuts from the alternate universe to our universe, and back again.

Other information

  • This is the first episode in which the names "Starfleet" and "Starfleet Command" were used.
  • Commodore Stone is the highest-ranking officer portrayed by an African-Canadian actor to appear in the original series. He also commanded a starship at one time.
  • The script of this episode described the climactic scene in which Kirk, in a Jefferies tube, frantically tries to fix sabotage to the Enterprise's energy circuits in a note stating, "Desired is same exciting effect obtained in 'The Naked Time' with Scotty in tube."
  • Several musical scores are reused in this episode, including some cues from "The Naked Time" by Alexander Courage, romantic themes by Joseph Mullendore from "The Conscience of the King", used for Kirk and Areel Shaw, and music from "The Enemy Within" by Sol Kaplan, accompanying the fight between Kirk and Finney.
  • Krasnovsky is the only member of the trial board to speak other than Commodore Stone. His single line is "And when the orbit begins to decay?"
Starbase 11 ship chart

Ship registry list

Production timeline

Video and DVD releases

Remastered information

When the episode was remastered for the TOS Season 1 HD DVD, an opening shot of the Enterprise clearly reveals the hole where the ion pod used to be.

Links and references

Starring

Also starring

Co-starring

Featuring

And

With

Uncredited co-stars

Stunt doubles

References

2250s; 2254; 2262; affection; Agena target vehicle; alert status; "all right"; Alpha III; answer; "as a result"; atomic matter pile; attorney; attorney at law; auditory sensor; Axanar; Axanar Peace Mission; B deck; bench; Bible; bishop; "Bones"; book; booster; briefing room; career; case; chance; charge; checkmate; chess; circuit; client; clerk; Code of Hammurabi; Code of Justinian; cold-blooded; command crew; commanding officer; computer; computer log; computer log extract; computer transcript; concept; conclusion; confidence; conspiracy; Constitution-class decks; Constitution of the United States; counsel (counsel for the defense; counsel for the prosecution); course; court; court martial board; courtroom; crackpot; cross-examination; culpable negligence; damage; danger; day; death; decapitation; defendant; defense; deposition; discipline; disciplinary action; doctor; document; duty roster; effect; engine crew; error; evidence; "excuse me"; experience; experiment; fact; failure; faking death; Finney's mother; "fire away"; first edition; first officer; flattery; force seven; framing; friend; friendship; Fundamental Declarations of the Martian colonies; Gemini 8; general court martial; graduating class; ground assignment; guilt; hammer; Hammurabi; hatred; heartbeat; Human (Humanity); Human characteristic; Human rights; impulse engine; inanimate object; "in effect"; information system; inquiry; "in progress": "in session"; instruction; instructor; "in the event"; Intrepid, USS; intuition; ion plate; ion pod; ion storm; jettison button; job; Jones; Judge Advocate General; Justinian; king; kiss; language; law; lawyer; layover; legal decision; letter; library; logic; M-11; M-11 Starbase Club; machine; Magna Carta; magnification; Maintenance Section Eighteen; malfunction; malice; Martian colonies; megalite survey; memory bank; mental collapse; meteorology; midshipman; million; mind; minute; mistake; month; Moses; motion; murderer; mystic; name; namesake; nature; neck; objection; obsession; odd number; office; "on the other hand"; opportunity; orbit; panel; pasteurization; pattern; pawn; perjury; person; personnel officer; phase 1 search; Picasso; place; planet; plea; portmaster; positive gravity; power; precedent; prejudice; President of the Court; pressure; primary energy circuit; program bank; programming; promotion list; proof; prosecution; psychology; records officer; red alert; relationship; reprimand; Republic, USS; rights; risk; rook; rug; rumor; scandal; science officer; search; second; Section 18Y; Section 23D; serial number; service record; Setar; ship's surgeon; sitting; Smith; sobbing; sound; space; Space Command Representative; space regulations; speculation; stalemate; stand; "stand by"; star; Starbase 11; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet Command; static electricity; Statutes of Alpha III; subject; "sweep it under the rug"; "talk shop"; testimony; "thank you"; Titan II; thing; thousand; three-dimensional chess; trade; training; trial; Tribunal of Alpha III; verdict; Vulcanians; Vulcanian expedition; weatherscan; wheel; white-sound device; witness; year; yellow alert; Yorkshire

Awards and decorations

Award of Valor; commendation; decoration; Grankite Order of Tactics, class of excellence; Karagite Order of Heroism; Legion of Honor; Medal of Honor; Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission; Prentares Ribbon of Commendation, classes first and second; Silver Palm with Cluster; Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry; Starfleet Surgeons; Vulcanian Scientific Legion of Honor;

Starship repair references

Exeter, USS; Hood, USS; Lexington, USS; NCC-1685; NCC-1697; NCC-1700; NCC-1718; NCC-1831; Reliant, USS

Unreferenced materials

chief judge; coffee; conference room; delusions; delusions of persecution; double red alert; evolution; gavel; Holmes; Indian; luck; neck; quadrants; Rand, Janice; stun; Vulcan language; weapons room

External links

Previous episode produced:
"The Galileo Seven"
Star Trek: The Original Series
Season 1
Next episode produced:
"The Menagerie, Part I"
Previous episode aired:
"Tomorrow is Yesterday"
Next episode aired:
"The Return of the Archons"
Previous remastered episode aired:
"Assignment: Earth"
TOS Remastered Next remastered episode aired:
"A Private Little War"
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