James Miller of Malcolm Road, walked away from Supreme Court a free man on Wednesday after Justice Anita Allen accepted a "no case to answer" submission from his defence attorney Murrio Ducille.
He had faced three counts of murder and four counts of grievous harm. On April 17, 2001 two men opened fire on several individuals during a Dominoes game. Bernice Strachan identified Miller as one of the shooters but in subsequent statements she changed her description of the shooter. Justice Allen stated that she felt Ms. Strachan had been prompted and that she was no longer a credible witness. As there was no other evidence Justice Allen felt she had no choice but to acquit Miller.
This was cold blooded murder. Why was there no other evidence? Surely, these thug-minded criminals weren't so clever to escape without a trace. Three people were left dead and four injured. Why weren't the four injured considered witnesses? Why wasn't there an in depth investigation put forth by the CID? Where were the criminologists to analyse clues and DNA at the scene of the crime? Why was there only one witness and what made her change her testimony? Why is she not charged with making false statements?
Why is it that The Bahamas can never seem to resolve cases like this quickly and efficiently, even though there are only a few thousand in the entire population of the country who could qualify as suspects, and we are in a closed (island) community. Criminals can't exactly jump in a car and speed off to Mexico, or get lost in a population of millions as is the case in the US. Yet the US usually gets their man, take the sniper case for example. Why can't we ever get our man?
Maybe the Police Force is inadequately staffed. Actually, 70% of the force has been said to be corrupt. I personally know of three different young men all in their early 20's, who expressed interest in becoming police officers purely so that they could run drugs without being caught. Two of these young men are active police officers today. Running drugs is probably the least of our crime concerns right now with rapes, robberies and murders occurring everyday, but it shows the moral standards of the men we place our trust in.
With 41 rapes in September alone and no one charged for the crimes, and with such inadequate investigations that allow possible murderers to walk free – I don't think we're ready to celebrate Police Appreciation Week just yet. The police have too much work to do to stop even for a second right now. The thugs who robbed Club Med at gunpoint last night still need to be caught, for example.
One area of failure is having police officers act as prosecutors in the courts. They are not trained for this and far too often lose a good case because they were not skilled enough, educated enough or interested enough to combat some wily lawyer who is being paid big bucks to defend the guilty. Victims who are forced to rely on a inexperienced prosecutor are being dealt a grave injustice by not having their cases properly presented before the court. I have sat through approximately 30 court sessions in the last year and sometimes it would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic. I have sat through numerous cases where the prosecutor just repeats the same, often irrelevant, questions until the Judge finally has to step in and stop the misery. The people in the courtroom chuckle and make comments under their breath, but this is not supposed to be entertainment.
It isn't all the fault of the police and courts, though. Parents must take some responsibilty for the children they let out onto the streets. P. Anthony White made a very strong point in his Thursday Punch column. He says, "Those parents today who do not bend or break their wicked youthful offspring stand accused in this land, and perhaps when it is they who are arrested, paraded and handcuffed through the streets to the courts, charged, convicted and hauled off to Fox Hill, others will get the message that he who breeds young criminals must brutally taste of the punishment prescribed for both their youngsters and themselves."
