Sorry I don’t have an actual story reply but my mind immediately went to the animal trials of the late Medieval and Early Modern eras. Quoting Wikipedia for one that comes to mind:

A notable French jurist, Bartholomé Chassenée (1480-1542), successfully defended the rats of Autun through various largely procedural arguments. He won an extension for the rats (who had failed to honour a summons and appear in ecclesiastical court) by arguing that they did so because they feared for their lives. He used similar arguments in defense of woodworms in Mamirolle.[4]