Prince Oberyn is out. Bronn, are you free? A fan of HBO's "Game of Thrones" checked the books and decided it's fair game to demand a trial by combat in his court case, where he's accused of aiding and abetting a fraudulent transfer, among other not-quite-GoT-level claims. TheWrap has a story on Staten Island lawyer Richard Luthmann, and the comments are filled with more details from the accused himself, plus readers offering to be his champion.

As Luthmann wrote in his court filing:

Defendant invokes the common law writ of right and demands his common law right to Trial By Combat as against plaintiffs and their counsel, whom plaintiff wishes to implead into the Trial By Combat by writ of right. [...] Since [1776], no American court in post-independence United States to the undersigned's knowledge has addressed the issue, and thus the trial by combat remains a right reserved to the people and a valid alternative to civil action."

In the comments of TheWrap story, a reader asks if there's a right to "choose a champion" and if Luthmann thinks he's physically capable of winning if his opponent says yes.

Here's Luthmann's response:

The history appears to allow "the elderly, cripples and infirms" to choose champions to fight on their behalf. I had a total hip replacement four years ago from injuries sustained after years of wrestling and playing rugby, so I may qualify to select a champion on that basis. However, the Germanic and Anglo-Saxon traditions of Trial by Combat in civil matters seem to have champions that fight to injury as opposed to death. Some of the source material indicates that the respective champions would wear light armor and be armed with wooden shields and clubs (a little shorter than a baseball bat). The Champions would fight until one was too "damaged" to continue, and the party that was standing would be the winner.

As to whether I would win in a sanctioned physical altercation - you bet!"

So they need not fight to the death. Luthmann already has some prospective champions, including a guy named "John Paul Stark" (of course) who says he's a MMA coach from Starkville, Ontario, Canada (aka "the North") and is "a 6'3" heavyweight, and a legitimate bad motherf-cker."

Here's more of Stark's comment, just because it's fun:

I became a Game of Thrones fan through the show, and after the Red Wedding I googled to see if there were any Lanister's or Frey's who competed in MMA. My ambition was to beat one into a coma after carrying the Stark banner to the ring, but alas, those names are pretty rare and there were no fighters holding them.

Anyhow, I heard about your situation through Reddit, and how you might be elegable to have a Champion fight in your stead. It sounds like you could use a true Stark of the North in your corner, so I am officially offering my service. This is not a joke. You won't find a better fighter on short notice, so contact me if you are serious and name me as your Champion."

This is the world we live in! Gotta love it.

As GoT fans should recall, we've seen Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) have two champions fight for him: Bronn, successfully, and Oberyn, not-so-successfully. Hopefully the gods smile on this gentleman (unless they deem him guilty), but -- at the very least -- this sounds like a trial worth watching.

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