There are a number of concerns with plea bargaining

Aug 03, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
I have noticed recently that there has been a call for our courts to consider the use of plea bargaining as a means of solving crimes that have defied the efforts of the police over a number of years. Indeed Mr. Ralph Ramkarran on his blog on 25th July 2015 suggested that the judiciary should consider the use of the plea bargaining option for dealing with Mr. Hinds who admits to having been a member of the death squad.
Mr. Ramkarran argues that Mr. Hinds might have valuable information that would allow for the solving of some high profile crimes and “putting more criminals behind bars………..” While plea bargain does have a favorable history of being able to as Mr. Ramkarran expressed, it nevertheless does not seem to be very popular in countries in which it is widely used.
In a study done in Canada, 80% of respondents stated lack of support for it, while in Washington a study revealed that 82% of respondents rejected plea bargain (Herzog, Sergio, 2004). This is so even as at least 90% of criminal convictions in the USA are based on guilty pleas (Boston College Law Review 2010).
There are a number of reasons why many citizens are not enthusiastic about plea bargain. In the same study referred to above, it was found that people rejected plea bargaining for a number of reasons, among these are: (a) The public usually favor a punitive policy for the handling of criminals, (b) The public sees the practice of plea bargain as being soft on crime in that offenders receive a punishment much less than they would have been given for the crime had they faced trial and found guilty. Thus, this argument holds plea bargain promotes injustice and punishment is no longer a function of the seriousness of the offence but rather the offender’s capacity to negotiate with the prosecution. (C) Families of the victims are against plea bargaining because the thought that the person/s who were responsible for their loved ones demise will not be put away for a long time. Instead these criminals will have a “light sentence” and be on the roads after a brief period of incarceration. These families must know anger and a feeling of being let down by the criminal justice system(d) Communities are displease with plea bargain since the notion that unrepentant killers will shortly be returning to their communities cannot be comforting.
Mr. Ramkarran goes on to remind us of the extensive killings of citizens; many of them East Indians; during the Jadgeo reign and specifically during the period 2002 and 2004. When discussing the question of amnesty as it relates to Mr. Hinds, Mr. Ramkarran made the important point that in deciding on this the government should be careful and give some consideration to the views of a specific community. He pointed to the fact that East Indians, in the case of Mr. Hinds “may well view him as a savior in a difficult time.”
A good point, similarly if/when plea bargain is being considered for Mr. Hinds the feelings of the black community should also be considered. For it was mainly black families that suffered the loss of loved ones under conditions that frequently suggested plain murder at the hands of the death squad of which Mr. Hinds admits to having been a member.
So yes there is a case to be made for the resort to plea bargain in our criminal justice system. However it seems there are a number of considerations to ponder over before initiating same. In the end Mr. Ramkarran observation that the “APNU/AFC long term viability depends much on if it is able to grapple with, and treat with sensitivity, this dichotomous reality of Guyana” is true for all future governments of this troubled land.
Claudius Prince

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