(Jamaica Gleaner) Acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Claudette Thompson has argued that public demands for harsher punishments – such as the death penalty as clamoured for in cases of mass murder – ring hollow when many of those calling for such measures avoid fulfilling their civic duties, including jury service.
In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last week, she stressed that true justice requires active participation from all members of society, not just criticism from the sidelines.
In making that point, she referenced the case of Rushane Barnett, who was convicted and sentenced to five concurrent life sentences on October 20, 2022, for the murders of five of his relatives in Cocoa Piece, Clarendon.
“The persons calling for eye for an eye, what is interesting is that these are the same persons who, if the man had not pleaded guilty, we would be begging them to come to court as jurors, and we would have a problem because Clarendon is one of those parishes where they have to be begging the jurors to come,” Thompson pointed out.
You do not get to talk about ‘the man’s neck shoulda bruk’, and you are upset because we never hang him when you don’t participate in the process,” she continued.
Thompson emphasised that those accused of serious crimes, including murder, must be treated within the confines of the law.
Commenting further on the issue, Thompson noted that persons who are accused of committing multiple murders must be given a fair sentence by the court if they plead guilty at the earliest opportunity regardless of how gruesome their crimes may appear in the public eye.
“The last such case that was actually before the court and went to completion was that one in Clarendon, where the lady and her children were killed. We did go for the death penalty, but he (Barnett) pleaded guilty, and once you plead guilty, then your sentence would be reduced, so it was reduced from death to life. But we did serve death penalty notices in that one, and you have to benefit from a guilty plea,” said Thompson.
Under Section 42.D – 1 of the Criminal Justice (Administration) (Amendment) Act of 2015, when a defendant pleads guilty to an offence with which he has been charged, the court may reduce the sentence that would otherwise have been imposed if the defendant had been tried and convicted of the offence.
Section 42.D – 2 of the act says that if the defendant chooses to plead guilty on the first relevant court date, his sentence may be reduced by up to 50 per cent. If a guilty plea is entered after the first relevant court date but before trial commences, the defendant’s sentence may be reduced by up to 35 per cent.
According to Section 42.E – 1, where a defendant pleads guilty to the offence of murder, the court may reduce the sentence it would otherwise have imposed if the defendant had been tried and convicted.
“You are not right when you say, ‘Dem fi bruk dem neck’, because when they take that kind of responsibility for their actions (admit guilt in court), they must be given credit for it,” Thompson noted.
The acting DPP also dismissed proposals for special legislation to apply the death penalty in cases of mass murder, arguing that existing laws are sufficient.
On November 27, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck said he would be pushing for legislation for the application of the death penalty in cases of mass murder. He was speaking on the heels of a mass shooting along Waltham Park Road that claimed the lives of five people two days earlier. A sixth person was also killed some 70 metres away around the same time.
