… and are a bigger problem than errant Politicians. Anyone who follows the news in Trinidad & Tobago know that crime is on everyone’s mind. Recently Chief Justice Ivor Archie was quoted in the Economist Magazine about the problem with jury trials in Trinidad. He lamented about the knowledge possessed by the jury pool for trials in Trinidad & Tobago. Subsequently this story broke:
Two mentally challenged, African American half-brothers Henry Lee McCollum and Leon Brown were found guilty of the rape and murder of 11-year-old Sabrina Buie in 1983 (North Carolina). Three days ago the men were freed when recently processed DNA evidence proved that another man that lived nearby was most likely responsible for the murder/rape. The case is really telling about what is wrong with the death penalty. In hindsight, the men whose IQ’s ranged in the 50’s and 60’s, had confessions browbeaten out of them by overzealous local police and prosecuted by “Joe Freeman Britt, the 6-ft-6, Bible-quoting district attorney who was later profiled by “60 Minutes” as the country’s “deadliest D.A.” because he sought the death penalty so often”.
What is remarkable about this case? There never was any evidence tying the brothers to the crime. All these prosecutors and courts had to go on, was the confession literally beaten out of a mentally challenged under aged boy who never understood what was going on. Upon signing the confession, after a grueling 5 hour session, 15 yr old Leon Brown asked “can I go home now?” These facts alone should have been enough to afford the “reasonable doubt” safeguard, afforded to every accused citizen under the constitution.
You might ask – why is this relevant to our Trinidad & Tobago? We have a situation where citizens are begging for the implementation of the death penalty. According to a 2011 study commissioned by London based Death Penalty Project, 91 percent of Trinidadians are in favor of executions. Most other surveys/polls publish figures between 90 and 95%. Because of this, politicians have no choice but to implement it, or at least pretend to be. Despite much negative publicity from international watchdog groups, those in charge are singing the same song. Including public statements by successive Ministers of National Security, Attorney Generals and even Prime Ministers. Locally proclaimed crime expert Ramesh Deosaran:
“We are turning into the Wild Wild West where there is shooting and then ask questions afterwards. You damaging families, you brutally killing them, shooting them in the head, what you have now are not just murders, it is assassination where very young men are growing up with no fear of God and no fear of the law. The death penalty, he said, was not only created for deterring but for retribution”.
Here is the problem, Ramesh – how can anyone be sure that they have the right man? We would like to know what part of Mr. Deosaran’s expertise informs him about this. It’s easy to understand why the rank and file would support the death penalty – they are stupid and have not thought it out. And we know why the government and the law makers will have no choice to support it as well – they are just a reflection of the stupid population. But Mr. Deosaran is an expert. I wonder how different is he from the bible thumping prosecutor, Joe Freeman Britt, who last week told the press that “that he still believed the men were guilty”, despite the new evidence.
One of the incredible hurdles in correcting these wrongs, is in the sheer inertia that needs to be overcome when a prosecutor have to make an about 180 degree turn, and say “I was wrong”, I made a horrendous mistake and people might have gotten executed because of it. This inertia is reflected in the recent revelations that, errant forensic methodology persisted for over two decades (treating hair sample evidence on par with fingerprints) and hundreds of innocent men are probably in prison for crimes they did not commit. Now that significantly superior methods of forensic testing is available, it’s remarkable that so many cases are being overturned, considering the reluctance to reopen old convictions. According to a 2014 report published by the National Academy of Sciences, a very conservative 4.1% of those on death row are innocent.
What is not being discussed is that there are no criminal genes – no one is born a criminal. Criminals are a product of circumstances, environment, and society. Society produces it and is should be responsible for it. Everyone is born innocent and not in control of any of those three conditions. The segments of society that enjoys an affluent lifestyle on the hillsides of the north, must realize that what they enjoy is a product of the same system that sheds innocent blood. Society is also responsible for how justice is administered, that safeguards are in place to protect the innocent. It is more expensive to execute someone rather than have their sentences commuted to life.
Now to Justice Ivor Archie, who thinks that a significant part of our justice problem lie with ‘less than knowledgeable jurists’. Consider what highly knowledgeable US Supreme Court Judge Antonin Scalia had to say about the case, “Mr. McCollum’s crime as so heinous that it would be hard to argue against lethal injection.” When in 1994 the brothers’ case was turned down by the US Supreme Court. The case was frequently used to bolster the argument for the death penalty. How ironic is it that this case which so many pointed to as a reason for the death penalty is a case of massive injustice? Was Justice Scalia not knowledgeable enough? What drove him to override his knowledge and training? Even to show it publicly? Where he and others equated the severity of the crime with guilt? He allowed his emotion and his bias to propagate an injustice. What is the penalty for this? Will he have to face the consequences? Justice Scalia is the longest serving on the US Supreme Court. Do you think Judges and Magistrates don’t bring their biases and interests in their rulings? Why do we assume that they won’t? What checks and balances do you have to protect the vulnerable and those who cannot buy good representation, from this (other than spending a few million to take your matter all the way to the Privy Council)? Do you think this is insignificant compared to the knowledge-ability of laypersons who serve on juries? How many miscarriages of justice are there in Trinidad & Tobago due to a Judges bias or error? How is this monitored? Not everyone has the money or stomach to appeal. Especially when there is such an incessant demand for the ‘gallows’.
It is counter ideological that those most vocal in Trinidad & Tobago for the death penalty tend to be religious (The Death Penalty Project). Did god make us criminal? What about the repercussions about that they might face on Judgment Day for their own transgressions? What did Jesus say about revenge and retribution?
References
- Deosaran: “Revamp the death penalty” – http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/99077819.html
- Minister of National Security – Death penalty will be a deterrent http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/_Death_penalty_will_be_a_deterrent_-101136414.html
- Washington Post – Forensic errors by FBI lab unit spanned two decades http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/federal-review-stalled-after-finding-forensic-errors-by-fbi-lab-unit-spanned-two-decades/2014/07/29/04ede880-11ee-11e4-9285-4243a40ddc97_story.html
- NY Times – 4.1% Are Said to Face Death on Convictions That Are False http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/02/science/convictions-of-4-1-percent-facing-death-said-to-be-false.html
- DNA Evidence Clears Two Men in 1983 Murder http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/us/2-convicted-in-1983-north-carolina-murder-freed-after-dna-tests.html?_r=0
- Democracy Now – A Victory over Justice System’s Failure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyjIg_pKa3w
- Public Opinion on the Mandatory Death Penalty in Trinidad – http://www.deathpenaltyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Public-Opinion-on-the-Mandatory-Death-Penalty-in-Trinidad-Report-Final.pdf
- Wikipedia – Wrongful Convictions – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_miscarriage_of_justice_cases
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