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When killers go free

Apr 22, 2010 Editorial

The public would never be satisfied with the results of certain criminal matters. The most recent case involved the acquittal of four men who were charged with the murder of taxi driver, Teddy Smith, at Beterverwagting.
There is no doubt that the four participated in killing Smith and taking his car. There were eyewitnesses to the killing just off the Beterverwagting Railway Embankment but these people were reluctant to come forward with their testimony.
That is one of the sad situations these days. People are still reluctant to get involved in matters that are of no concern to them
The police managed to make a breakthrough when they held some men with Smith’s car as they were about to perpetrate a robbery.
These men were the killers. One of the young killers spilled his guts and the case was all but closed. The police were at pains to get supporting evidence; they lifted prints from the car and they questioned each of the suspects.
In the end, it turned out that they, the police, had not done enough. First the statement came under challenge. Then the fingerprints came under challenge. The police were hard pressed to link the prints to the murder. The defence argument was that the prints could have got on the car when the men were attempting the robbery while using the car.
Teddy Smith has been killed and no one is going to be brought to book because perhaps rightly, the defence successfully challenged the evidence. The tenet is that ninety-nine guilty men should walk free before one innocent man is executed. The four are among the ninety-nine who will walk free.
It is not that the courts set out to free the men; it is not that the prosecution did a poor job of presenting the case. Rather, it is a case of incomplete investigation and this is the fault of the police. Although, it is more a fault of the education system and the training that the investigators undergo. It is a problem with the direction these investigators are given.
It is not known that the police, during active investigations, discuss with the Director of Public Prosecutions, the evidence at hand and seek advice on the way forward. Perhaps there is the perception that the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is only for advice when charges are about to be laid.
This may not be a bad thing but often at this point things on the ground change.
For example, the police were certain that they had all the ingredients to close a case involving a North West District girl who committed suicide.
It turned out that they had left a glaring loophole in the matter. They assumed suicide when it could have been murder. The recommendation by the DPP met some measure of objection and the investigations collapsed. That matter remains what the police suggested—a suicide.
There have been a number of training seminars under the auspices of the Justice Improvement Programme. However, with a growing number smart defence lawyers there needs to be an equally increasing number of prosecutors, smart enough to cope. This has implications for the law students who return. Nearly not enough enter Government service.
So the justice system is being criticized, not because those who serve it are incompetent, but because more often than not, they are provided with inadequate material to lead a successful prosecution.
Guyana is not unique in this field. It would seem as though the prosecution is always at a disadvantage. However, perhaps because of the level of remuneration, prosecutors tend to do a better job than those in Guyana. Even the investigators seem to do a better job.
The government says that it is spending millions of dollars fighting crime. It has spent millions of dollars on firearm and ammunition and vehicles. It must spend almost as much on the people who take the case provided by the police— those who are armed with the firearm and ammunition and vehicles.

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