A high number of accused persons have walked free after High Court trials since the start of the year, for which the poor quality of police investigations, inexperienced prosecutors and a vulnerable jury system are being blamed.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack, questioned about the situation, acknowledged that in some of the cases where the persons were found not guilty by the jury, the reason was “the quality of” the investigations. In addition, Ali-Hack in a short correspondence to Stabroek News, said “there were also cases where there was evidence but the jury surprisingly returned not-guilty verdicts.”
Ali-Hack did not respond to questions about the number of cases heard and the number of not-guilty verdicts that were handed down, however there is concern about the number of unsuccessful prosecutions in the legal system.
A legal source told Stabroek News that the state prosecution needs to take some of the blame for what is happening in the High Court. The source pointed out that since the start of the year, there has been a high amount of not-guilty verdicts and the figure is even more alarming when compared to previous years.
“A lot has to do not only with poor investigations and the jury but also the prosecution,” the source explained, while pointing out that there are cases where an inexperienced prosecutor has to go up against a very experienced criminal lawyer.
“They cannot stand up to some of these big defence counsel,” the source said, before opining that a prosecutor should be sitting in a courtroom observing before they are handed their first trial.
According to the source, the relatives of the deceased often look to the prosecution for closure and justice and most times at the end of the trials they are left unsatisfied. It was pointed out that the prosecutor needs to ask the appropriate questions “to bring out the evidence”.
In addition, the source also highlighted concerns about the jury system, while noting that there have been instances where even the judges are left shocked when they hear the verdict despite insurmountable evidence of the accused’s guilt.
The source pointed out the case of Dexter Marshall, who was found not guilty in February of the murder of Mark Caesar. Justice Roxane George, who presided over the trial, told him that he was very lucky, since there was relatively strong evidence in the case.
Marshall had been identified by the victim’s brother—an eyewitness—as one of the two men who gunned down Caesar in Charlestown, although he denied that it was him. Members of the jury, who returned a unanimous verdict, believed him.
The source also recalled a case some time back where a rape accused was freed and it was only after the matter had ended that it was revealed that the jury foreman was previously charged with rape.
According to the source, these factors that are plaguing the jury system highlight the need for Guyana to switch to the American system, where prospective jurors are vetted ahead of the empanelling. In Guyana, pieces of paper with numbers printed on them are placed in a box and the 12 numbers that are pulled are the members of the jury, the source said.
The source opined that the jurors ought to be held responsible for letting the guilty go free more than the police. The source acknowledged that there are times where the police “totally mess up” but noted that there are also many cases where “there are diligent officers who do good work.”
“Police really do work hard sometimes. There are cases where they cover all their bases. Some of the ranks go the extra mile,” the legal source said, while adding that the police force probably needs to develop good Criminal Investigation Department (CID) teams in each division or ensure that each CID rank has at least a university education, is paid higher salaries or give incentives so as to strengthen the work.
It was pointed out that in cases where the police investigation was good, the matter falls through sometimes because members of the jury are not paying attention. In addition to this, the source said that sometimes the defence lawyer and the family of the accused use tactics to sway the members of the jury, such as making loud remarks in court while testimony is in progress.
Stabroek News was told of other cases where the accused are freed even though there is overwhelming evidence because “the price is right.” The source also said some people go and deliberately sit on a jury, knowing fully well that they know the accused and should not be there.
Asked what happens if it is discovered that there is a link between one of the jurors and the accused, the source noted that a complaint is made to the presiding judge, who then holds an inquiry in chambers to determine if the juror can continue. If it is found that the case has somehow been compromised, the trial can be aborted.
Despite concerns persist about the quality of the jury pool, Attorney General Anil Nandlall said recently that a case is still to be made to review the system.
‘Very bad work’
Meanwhile, a police source shared a different view, saying that at the end of the day it is the poor police investigations that cause cases to fall through. “They are doing very bad work,” the source said, while explaining that not enough is being done at the initial stages of the investigations.
The police source said the recent Shaka Chase case is a perfect example. Chase, who was charged by police with the murder of lance corporal Romein Cleto, was freed after the DPP reviewed the case file and exculpatory evidence from his lawyer. Chase was allegedly tortured to confess while in custody, his lawyer had said.
The police source explained that if the police had succeeded, a preliminary inquiry could have started and sufficient evidence could have seen Chase committed to the High Court for trial.
However, the source explained that the trouble would have come when the matter began in the High Court and the poor police investigations would be revealed. “When they reach the High Court, then they would see that they don’t have the evidence,” the source said, while pointing out that the DPP’s advice to have the charge withdrawn was appropriate.
According to the source, CID has a serious leadership problem, which is affecting how its work is being done. The source added that if this situation is not corrected, the department will continue to “mess up” and the guilty will continue to walk the streets.
The source pointed to a lack of experience among the detectives. A one-week training course, the source said, is not enough to make a rank experienced in police investigations. As it stands now, he noted, crime scenes are not properly processed because the ranks responsible lack experience. “You can’t get [there] overnight. That is what they don’t understand. You can’t give a person the wuk over someone with experience just because they have a degree,” he stressed.
“They are not competent people. A lot of the detectives lack experience. They are not doing proper investigations. I don’t think they are committed,” the source added, while also suggesting that most of the ranks do not identify with the pain and suffering of the victims of a crime or their families and instead concentrate on giving people the perception that they have solved a crime when no proper work had been done.
