Newspaper reports of the delays in recent court cases highlight the problems of the Bahamian legal system and show that there are many factors contributing to the dysfunctionality of our courts.
Are the wheels of justice grinding slowly in The Bahamas because of the difference between judges who “take care of business” and those who cater to the whim of incompetent prosecutors and sly defence attorneys? Or, is the problem with the attorneys themselves?
On Wednesday, a jury convicted a man of four counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. They convicted him despite the fact that the man didn’t even show up for court.
The nine-member jury returned unanimous verdicts against Simeon Lopez, who was absent during the last week of the trial.
No-nonsense justice, Roy Jones, issued an arrest warrant and continued the trial in the defendant’s absence.
However, the good judge even warned the jury not to assume that Lopez was guilty just because he didn’t show up. Jones said Lopez was unable to explain the evidence of the prosecution, but he voluntarily waived his right to present a defense by absenting himself.
Justice Jones will hold a sentencing hearing on October 12.
Darnell Dorsette was the prosecutor and Perry Albury appeared for Lopez.
Meanwhile, another (unnamed) judge in the Supreme Court postponed a sentencing hearing in a murder trial, apparently at the whim of the defense attorney.
Last month, a jury convicted Edney Burrows, 27, and Andre Dieujuste, 28, of the September 13, 2008 murder of Jason Smith.
The jury rejected the lesser charge of manslaughter and convicted both men of murder. Prosecutor Jillian Williams is not seeking the death penalty.
However, the judge, for reasons that are thus far inexplicable, postponed the sentencing hearing.
Mind you, this was not a trial, it was merely the sentencing hearing and legal experts say that only in rare circumstances should it have been delayed.
Elliot Lockhart represented Burrows and Christina Galanos represented Dieujuste.
In another case of delayed justice, Magistrate Carolita Bethel postponed the Randy Fraser sex crime trial on Tuesday, instead of delivering her verdict as she previously told the court she would do. Closing submissions in the trial were made nearly two months ago.
The magistrate postponed the announcement of the verdict until October 31, 2011, because the defence attorney, allegedly from Wayne Munroe’s office, was “out sick”.
Again, this was not a trial, it was merely the announcement of a verdict in a trial that has been postponed a dozen times over the last two years.
Legal experts again said only under rare circumstances would it matter if the defendent’s attorney was there, or not, for the verdict to be delivered. The verdict would still stand. And an attorney being sick is not a good enough reason to delay a case, because the law firm is supposed to appoint a replacement attorney in such cases. Besides, this is not the first time that the case has been delayed due to “convenient” excuses by the defence attorneys.
But it is not just defence attorneys who get cases delayed.
Magistrate Carolita Bethel also postponed the case against the three men who robbed John Bull several months ago.
A Voluntary Bill of Indictment (VBI) was expected to be presented against the three men on Wednesday.
But prosecutor Sandradee Gardiner told the judge that the Bill had not yet been filed, and that she was unable to have the document ready in time, despite having months to prepare it.
Magistrate Bethel questioned why the VBI was not ready, as the case had already been postponed a number of times.
In this case, it was the prosecutors who requested the delay. Thus, it would appear that Magistrate Bethel is sympathetic to both sides of the legal divide. This could be a good thing if it weren’t so often abused by crafty or incompetent attorneys.
Tommy Turnquest recently criticized judges who were “too lenient” with attorneys. Perhaps it is attorneys who should be scrutinized.
