Trial of Ahsoka Tano

"Ahsoka Tano. You have been charged with sedition against the Jedi Order and the Republic itself. This court will decide your fate."

- Chancellor Palpatine's opening statement at the trial's start

Former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano was put on trial shortly before the end of the Clone Wars, after Tano was charged with sedition against the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic for her alleged role in the bombing of the Jedi Temple hangar. The charges came after she visited with Letta Turmond, who was being held as a suspect in the case, and Turmond was Force choked to death while Tano was in her cell.

Tano was then imprisoned, but escaped. However, she was eventually caught and brought to the trial, but not before being cast out of the Jedi Order and stripped of her Padawan braid. She was represented by Padmé Amidala, who sought desperately to find a way to clear her client, but with little success.

Ultimately, Tano was cleared of the charges because the Jedi Knight who was her master, Anakin Skywalker, conducted his own investigation and discovered that the crime Tano had been accused of had in fact been committed by Barriss Offee, a Jedi Padawan who had grown disillusioned with the behavior of the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars. Afterwards, Tano was invited to rejoin the Jedi Order, but refused, stating that she had to follow her own path.

Prelude
After the Jedi Temple on Coruscant was bombed, killing several Jedi, clone troopers and maintenance workers, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, and his padawan Ahsoka Tano, were called in by the Jedi High Council to investigate. Their investigation eventually led them to discover the perpetrator of the bombing; Letta Turmond, who had turned her husband, Temple worker Jackar Bowmani, into a walking bomb by feeding him Nano-droid explosives. Turmond was arrested and subsequently imprisoned below the Jedi Temple.

However, Turmond was later transferred to the Republic Center for Military Operations by Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin, who argued that since clones had been killed in the bombings the situation was a military matter rather than an internal affair of the Jedi. During her imprisonment, Turmond requested Tano's presence, refusing to speak to anyone else. However, while Tano was talking to Turmond in her cell, Turmond was suddenly strangled to death by way of the Force. Tano was subsequently arrested by Tarkin, believing her to be responsible for Turmond's murder. Unknown to all, however, the true culprit was Barriss Offee, a fellow padawan and friend of Tano's who had grown disillusioned with the Jedi. Offee later helped Tano escape the facility without revealing herself, and Tano fled into the Coruscant underworld, desperate to clear her name.

In response to the escape, the Jedi Council sent clone troopers led by Skywalker and Plo Koon to track Tano down and bring her back to the Temple, so they could discover the truth. Although Tano formed an uneasy alliance with former Separatist and ex-Sith apprentice Asajj Ventress, she was eventually recaptured by the clones after Barriss Offee, disguised as Ventress, lured her into a trap.

Afterwards, Tano was brought back to the Jedi Temple to await trial. However, Tarkin contacted the Council and requested to them, on behalf of the Senate, that Tano be expelled from the Jedi Order and returned to the custody of the Republic military. Tarkin and the Senate believed that an internal Jedi trial would seem "biased", and therefor felt that having Tano tried outside the Order would be more "impartial". Though it was not a unanimous decision, the Council chose to comply with the Senate's wishes, stripping Tano of her rank and status as a Jedi. Tano was then removed from the Temple and taken back to the Republic base, where Padme Amidala agreed to represent her during her trial before the Senate.

Appearances

 * Tarkin
 * Tarkin
 * Tarkin