Kindred Justice
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For the record, Kindred justice is not based upon trial by jury, the use of Aura Perception, Liar's Plague, whatever... none of these are accepted. Status and Station wins. The elders of a city usually do not like investigations to get to the bottom of things. Why investigate? Better to find a scapegoat... sorry, criminal unaligned... and kill him for the crime. If the crime happens again, then the unbound was obviously in league with someone. Mind you, if in doubt, blame any Nomad... they have no Status and as such are guilty of everything! All right, all right, it depends on the Prince, but most of the time, investigations are not carried out -- and for very good reason. Many criminal acts can be carried out and ignored if you remember one thing: while murder and Diablerie are terrible crimes and while Princes and Reeves want the criminals punished, the society must be maintained! The biggest crime in many cities is to disregard Status.
Example
Picture the scene: The Lancea Sanctum Herald has been found in a room with the Circle of the Crone's Hierophant dead. He claims he didn't do it. The Prince summons him and the entire court (this is a bad move, but we'll come back to that in a bit).
Prince: Right, Herald... did you kill the Circle of the Crone's Hierophant?
Herald: My Lord... I cannot tell a lie... nope. I had nothing to do with it.
Near-By Mekhet: AH-HA! Your grace, my learned Herald is a lying, two faced murdering git.
Herald: You have evidence?
Mekhet: I don't have to have any... I just read your aura and me and EVERYONE could see that you were lying your bloody head off...
Herald: MOST JUDICIOUS ALDER PRINCE! What on Earth is going on? You've allowed someone to present evidence who clearly wishes to destable your court for his anarchistic allies!
Mekhet: WHAT!?
Prince: (Who knows where this is going and what is going to happen) My God, I think you're right!
Mekhet: What the hell?
Herald: A viper in our midst! I wonder, are all of the Mekhet so affected...?
Mekhet: What the Hell are you talking about?
Herald: You, Sir, you and your disregard for the Traditions and laws of the Alder Prince. You and your attempt to subvert this regime from within...
Mekhet: I beg your pardon?
Herald: I had given my word as Herald to his Grace! I, whom the Archbishop himself, who's word is beyond reproch, has cleared me of any suspicion with the power of God (Liar's Plague). You say you glanced at my aura and contradict me! You glance at my aura... you doubt my word, the word of the Archbishop, and the word of God?!
Mekhet: Well, of course I bloody well do, you're a sneaky git!
Herald: That's MR. Sneaky Git to you, Sunshine! Or, rather, Herald, VOICE to the Alder Prince Sneaky Git. You, Sir, have decided to disregard our sacred Traditions, disregard the rules that have kept this city in peace for the past two hundred years. You have taken the system of Status, which unites us and binds us, and defines our place in our society, and you have thrown it out the window. You doubt my word in public... by doing so, you suggest that Status is redundant. You wish to destroy it, eh?
Mekhet: Er... no, that's not...
Herald: No doubt you wish to get rid of Boons and introduce democracy as well... probably hang about with Danton don't you?
Mekhet: No, now wait a minute...!
Herald: Your grace, I insist that this criminal be staked immediately
Overview
And like that the bad guy gets away with it! Why? Because Kindred society is deadlier than any Kindred! It is not based upon fairness or justice. The Lancea Sanctum Herald did kill the Circle of the Crone's Heriophant... but the Mekhet broke an even bigger rule... He disregarded station. The Herald committed murder... the Mekhet committed treason and sedition. And since his act of treason was to say he had read the Herald's aura... then the very accusation is treason, and thus the case is dropped and the Mekhet gets it! (This could lead to people like the Harpies judging and ruling cases... and that's almost right!)
Mind you, the Prince messed up. He should have gotten the Mekhet to ask the Herald in private, and then used the Aura Reading as evidence when coming up later. The evidence would have been in beforehand, and the statement that the Herald was lying more acceptable (because the Prince can say it). Committing a crime becomes something anyone can get away with... if they are smart. Bringing someone to justice is as easy as just saying the right thing at the right time to the right person. Who cares if they did it? Who cares what their Aura says? It's about how you appear and what power you have. An Elder can make your life miserable for years. That¹s the whole point of the game... you must out nasty the nasty guy. Just think... if that Mekhet in the above example had been the Prefect of the Carthian Movement, not only would the Herald get away with the murder of the Heirophant, but the Prince might have been forced to punish the entire Carthian Covenant! The Prince might even wish to do this!
Also, remember; accusations of criminal activity against Kindred must be made by those of high standing in a court. It's not enough that you get evidence against the Herald, the evidence and the accusation must be made by the Prince, the Seneschal, the Chief Harpy, the Reeve, the Master of Elysium, a Primogen, or someone of high enough standing and political weight. Someone has to stand up and make the accusation and take the blame if the accusation falls down. Anonymous tip-offs and so forth are instantly discounted. The reason someone important has to bring the accusation is that if it goes wrong, someone important has to take the blame.. at least until they pass the buck onto the little person who made the accusation in the first place. If you make an accusation and it is thrown out, you are guilty of bringing false witness. Even if what you told is the truth, you have brought false witness. The very act of accusation is a dangerous thing. Heaven forbid you accuse a Prince in good standing of a crime - the very act is sedition and should only be carried out by another Prince-to-be with everything already tied-up! Remember that the Prince of a Domain is the final judge of all things.