For the past two weeks, I've been assisting an attorney defending a client accused of "organized prostitution." (The woman ran a strip club along with her female partner).

Today at about 2:30 p.m. MDT in El Paso, Texas, a jury came back after ashockingly short deliberation time and pronounced the defendant guilty.

I asked the question: Will (her) conviction be reversed at 3:28 p.m. Since I am NOT the attorney and the defendant is not my client, I assigned the 11th house of "friends and acquaintances to her." This would mean that she is represented by Jupiter in Scorpio. (Jupiter, the planet of abundance and Scorpio, which I associate with sex.) Note that here, the defendant's 7th house of open enemies (the prosecution, ruled by the 3rd and 4th house of the radical chart) is ruled by Mercury and that Mercury is in Scorpio about to conjunct Jupiter in the defendant's 12th house (the radical 10th).

This indicates to me a period of imprisionment, given that the 12 house denotes confinement and it contains her ruler, Jupiter. But what to make of the 7th house ruler being there as well, about to conjunct it?

And I'm not sure what, if anything, to do with the fact that Mercury will turn Rx on Oct. 28 -- could this mean that in about 9 months the situation could change dramatically? Or am I just too hopeful here?

http://www.astro.com/cgi/chart.cgi?nhor ... gm=a1&ast=[/img]

Hi voyagergirl,

I seem to recall Deb teaching us in her horary course that if the person you're asking about is not designated in any other way -- i.e. as daughter, spouse, friend, etc., you take the ASC ruler to represent the person you are asking about. That would mean that the accused is rep. by Saturn in the 7th house of open enemies (the prosecution). Saturn rules the 12th house so it doesn't look good for her staying out of prison.

The judgement is rep. by the 10th house so Jupiter rules this. Will it be overturned? Jupiter applies soon to square Saturn, so in the short term it doesn't look like it will be overturned but on the other hand, Mercury which conjuncts Jupiter will turn retrograde soon, as you note, and perfect the conjunction to Jupiter retrograde on Nov. 3. This may indicate that the conviction will be overturned, or at least revisited. Jupiter is also peregrine ... perhaps there's little commitment to the judgment. Jupiter also rules the 11th house of freedom.

On the other hand, Saturn on an angle is often indicative of a NO answer to the question. The Moon in the 8th doesn't make the picture any rosier either. Venus which rules strip clubs and prostitution receives the Moon into the 8th house of other people's money ... Neptune is conjunct the ASC ... do you think the accused is telling the truth?

Sorry I can't be more conclusive but hope these thoughts help. I will be most interested to hear how this turns out.

Hi Voyagergirl

I would consider taking the first house for the client rather than the eleventh and proceed from there. Use the seventh for the opposition etc. And even though you are not the lawyer, you are part of the team so I would see you as being part of the 9th house, the judge the 10th house etc.

Sue

Sorry Alanna, I did not see your post before submitting mine. I would pretty much agree with most of what you have said. I have seen a number of these charts that use the 1st house ruler in this way. I'm not sure that Saturn in the 7th indicates a no answer though. However, it is a consideration before judgement warning the astrologer to proceed with caution. Saturn in the 7th represents far too many variables, often dependent on the question asked, to mean anything so concrete as a 'no' answer.

Well, yesterday, after the jury came back with a "guilty" verdict in only 15 MINUTES (and this, after a two-week-long trial) they sentenced her to 16 YEARS in prison.

The woman in question has no prior criminal record so this is a very harsh sentence: I mean, even people who KILL other people sometimes get less time!

I will help the attorneys work on the appeal if I can and I truly hope those of you who had some positive thoughts about this conviction being overturned or revisited are right: this outcome seems so unjust. But if she is ruled by Saturn in the 7th, that shows her in the house of her own open enemies. Using Saturn would also mean that the Sun is the 7th house ruler of the prosecution and it's in its fall, which is not a position of strength for them. But the fact that Saturn and her ascendent are in fixed signs doesn't bode well for change, meaning her confinement must last indefinitely, but I sure hope not.

I'll keep everyone updated. thanks again.