Whenever people discover I was a prosecutor, in Jamaica, they tend to ask the same questions:
- Did you ever prosecute murderers?
- Have you ever been threatened by a criminal?
- Weren't you afraid?
- Did you ever send someone you thought was innocent to jail?
- Has any criminal ever confessed to you?
- Have you ever encountered someone you prosecuted out of court?
- Would you prosecute someone you know?
1. Did you ever prosecute murderers?
Yes. Prosecuting murderers is commonplace for Jamaican prosecutors. Within a year (or less) of joining the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Department, a prosecutor would have prosecuted a few murders. This is primarily because of the high murder rate, an inadequate number of judges, courtrooms and prosecutors in relation to Jamaica's escalating crime rates. The government has, through the years, added a few judges, prosecutors and courtrooms, but the numbers remain inadequate to deal with Jamaica's ever increasing crime rate. There is a direct correlation between Jamaica's escalating crime rate and the backlog of cases in the courts.
Nothing the prosecutors and judges do will ever make a significant dent in the backlog of criminal cases if the crime rate is not reduced significantly and for an extended period. The truth is, our people desperately need to change. We need to change a lot of things! We need to change our values and attitudes. We need to value life and respect other people's property. We need to stop being so easily offended by small things. We need to be more disciplined and less aggressive. We need our young men, in particular, to see the value of an honest day's work and steer them away from the gun, the scamming and the murderous lifestyle too many are engaged in. We need to take responsibility for our actions, and inactions, and stop believing that we are all entitled to a "bligh" (Jamaican for chance) so we can break laws and do as we please.
Despite the inefficiencies and criticisms of the justice system, judges and prosecutors continue to tackle the growing mountain of cases but, they are simply carrying water in the proverbial basket! So yes, prosecutors in their twenties, with a few years at the bar have no choice but to sharpen their skills quickly to competently prosecute murderers who are often represented by very experienced defence counsel.
2. Have you ever been threatened by a criminal?
Yes. The threat I received did not warrant me being assigned a police detail but it was nevertheless a threat. The first murder trial I participated in when I joined the DPP's office resulted in a conviction and the accused threatened to kill both my senior and I upon his release. I really wondered why he would want to kill me when he confessed to the murder to two people and showed them the body. All I did in the trial was martial the evidence of the formal witnesses like the person who identified the body, the pathologist and the police officer who conducted the identification parade and I took notes. I guess that was sufficient participation in the process on my part to justify him threatening to kill me.
3. Weren't you afraid?
I had two moments when I truly felt afraid. Prior to applying for the job as a prosecutor, I was fully aware of the potential dangers involved and I had decided to die doing what is right if that is what it takes to ensure justice is done in my corner. Sounds heroic but I was serious. Despite my seeming courage, there were moments when I felt afraid. I only recall being afraid I might be hurt twice.
The first time I felt afraid was when I was sent to prosecute cases in a parish that did not have the best hotel accommodation. I was exhausted from back to back assignments and no break in between. Despite the advice of my colleagues and judges who warned me about how dingy the place was I opted to stay at the hotel next door to the court. I had already prepared my cases and was fully aware I would have been prosecuting a drug don for a gun crime and a hit man for murder in the same week. I was not afraid while reading the files. (I usually felt many emotions while reading files but never fear.) When I arrived at the "hotel" I wished its dinginess was my only concern!! The property was unoccupied, I must have been the only guest, and there was no security guard in sight. (In retrospect the guard may have been the same person who checked me in, prepared the meals and cleaned the room. Yes, it was that kind of place and the Ministry of Justice had it on their list of approved hotels for prosecutors.) My room was visible from the main road and access could easily be gained by just walking off the street through the permanently open gate. My car had to be parked where it would also be visible from the main road and the three or four blocks of buildings next to mine were unoccupied. What concerned me, even more, apart from the awful smell of the linen and dirty water marks on the bath tiles, was the fact that I could have easily broken into the room MYSELF!! The door had a flimsy lock that was so close to the wooden louvre windows you could pry it open. When night fell the place was in pitch darkness and I had to stay up reading in preparation for court which meant everyone could see my lights on from the road. But that was not the scariest night at all.
The drug don was acquitted and the following day he, and no less than a dozen of his cronies on motorcycles, greeted me in the parking lot ... where I had to park. He playfully mocked me about his acquittal and I just went about my business only to discover the hit man I was about to prosecute was his hit man. I still was not afraid. I prosecuted the hit man, who turned out to be one humorous person ... despite his job description. He was convicted. As I drove to the hotel that afternoon, with the clean sheets my father had driven all the way from home to take to me, I felt AFRAID!! The drug don and his cronies were still in the parking lot and I had to drive to the hotel next door. "What if they got a brilliant idea???" I thought. All I could do that night was move the bedside table to the front door and position the lamp so that I would hear it fall if anyone opened the door. I said my prayers and went to sleep. Nothing happened.
The second time I felt afraid was during the prosecution of a case which, as the evidence unfolded I discovered, had connections that extended beyond Jamaica's borders. The accused persons tried to intimidate me each time I appeared at court but I did not feel afraid. One afternoon just before I left court the police advised senior counsel and I they received information of some "plan". That was it. No details. I drove away from court checking my mirrors to see if I was being followed but noticed nothing suspicious. I was at the front of a line of traffic waiting for the traffic light to change when a motorcyclist in all black rode up next to my car and his bike made a loud sound like a gunshot! I think my heart stopped for a few seconds! When I realised I was not shot I laughed all the way home. The next day I told the police what had happened and I was assured they had followed me home. I didn't even notice them. So much for me checking to see if I was being followed huh?
I learned early in my career as a prosecutor hat once you treat the accused persons with fairness and respect they will not harm you. I have had an accused man wait for me in the parking lot to thank me after I threw out his cases upon realising the police had trumped up the charges to keep him out of a tourist area during the peak season. When he saw how dirty my car was he proceeded to clean the bonnet with the shirt he was wearing to show his gratitude. A few weeks later, the same man protected me from a drug addict who had me cornered in a lonely parking lot begging me for money. He told the addict, "leave my friend alone! Whenever you see her do not beg her for anything!"
4. Did you ever send someone you thought was innocent to jail?
Technically prosecutor's do not "send people to jail". They assist the judge in the decision-making process through the marshalling of evidence but the answer is, yes. I have prosecuted innocent people who have been found guilty. For some prosecutors, it may be about securing convictions, but it was not that way for me. I just wanted justice and I fully appreciated that justice sometimes demanded acquittals. I am, to this day haunted by two cases.
In the first case, identification was in issue and the sole witness to facts testified he knew the accused before the incident and the accused was standing under a street light. In his defence the accused insisted that he did not shoot at the complainant and there are no streets lights on the road the complainant alleged the incident occurred. Weeks after the conviction of the accused, I used the same road and discovered, there were, in fact, no street lights! A simple visit to the locus in quo would have resolved the case in the accused person's favour. By then it was too late. I didn't even remember his name or who represented him.
The second case was the conviction of a teenager in Clarendon. There was no basis for his conviction, in fact, based on the judge's remarks at the beginning of the delivery of his judgment I had endorsed the indictments "Not Guilty". The sole issue was credibility. I did not believe my own witness' evidence but that is a matter for a judge or jury to determine and the judge said, "I do not believe the prosecutions' witnesses." At the end of the judgment, the judge found this young man "guilty". Believe me when I tell you shock can cause temporary deafness! All I remember thereafter was encouraging Queen's counsel, who represented the accused "please file his appeal immediately." That young man spent about six months in prison before his conviction was quashed. That was the day I decided to stop being a prosecutor. I felt like I was playing games with people's lives and I that was not my objective. I wanted fairness.
I am sure there are other innocent persons who may have gone to jail on my watch but I just cannot tell who. All I know is, most times, it is the better liar who wins in the courtroom. There just is no way of telling what really happened in most cases.
5. Has any criminal ever confessed to you?
Yes. For some reason, accused persons, particularly in the Gun Court, always wanted to tell me "their side". Even when I explained "I am not allowed to discuss your case with you because you are represented by counsel" they would still insist on shouting out what they had to say. One day an accused man told me he robbed the female complainant but he did not shoot at the police. I spoke to the police officer. I told him if the accused did not shoot at the police we can drop the gun charge and send the Housebreaking and Larceny charge to the Resident Magistrate's Court. The police insisted the accused shot at them and of course, that is not an accusation to make light of. As the case unfolded, the Crown's civilian evidence revealed the police were not being honest and the accused was found not guilty on all charges. That for me was justice. There is no need to tell lies on people to win cases.
The second time an accused confessed to me was in a rape case in Kingston. Rape is one of the hardest offences to secure convictions in in Jamaica. I am a woman but I never liked having one female juror on a panel in a rape case. Every rape case I have ever done with female jurors has resulted in all the females saying not guilty and the men saying guilty. This case was no different. There was one male on the panel, as the female jurors outnumbered the males on that occasion. All the women said, "not guilty" and the male juror was the only one saying "guilty". The accused was freed of raping his ex-girlfriend and facilitating her subsequent gang rape. The evidence was overwhelming and the victim was clearly traumatised but the women decided the accused was innocent. As the police escorted the defendant out of court he said to me, while laughing, "a me do it and me get wey." He laughed all the way out of the court room. I felt really hurt for the victim and extremely disappointed in the women of the jury but there was nothing more I could do.
6. Have you ever encountered someone you prosecuted out of court?
Yes. I had a habit of going parasailing in Negril on my birthday when I was a prosecutor in Westmoreland. After an exhilarating experience in the sky on my 27th birthday as I was being taken to shore, when the man who ensured the ropes were secure and guided me safely back into the boat asked me, "Miss do you remember me?" From my experience that usually meant I prosecuted him. I played dumb and said, "No." (I really did not remember him and furthermore, we were still at sea.) He said, "I remember you. You are the Clerk of the Court." I neither admitted nor denied it and he went on, "I was in Court on Tuesday and I pleaded guilty for a ganja spliff but you know me never have any spliff. A lie the police tell pon me." I could not help myself at this point because I was tired of people in the parish pleading guilty to possession of ganja spliffs to avoid being locked up for a week. I had to ask him why he pleaded guilty when he was innocent. He explained the police told him if he pleaded guilty the fine would only be one hundred dollars instead of being remanded for one week. The police were right but the court was not. It was nothing short of coercion. Who wouldn't choose a hundred dollar fine if the judge was going to remand them in a Jamaican lock up for a week?
7. Would you prosecute someone you know?
If I had to, yes, without batting an eye but I have never prosecuted someone I knew.
Being a prosecutor is the second most rewarding job I have had. Being a Jamaican prosecutor was, and continues to be, more challenging than the people and the government of Jamaica can begin to fathom. The public, in their ignorance, sit in constant criticism of the work of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions when they have no clue what the job of a prosecutor entails and the average prosecutor is too busy preparing for the next trial, the next stint in the Court of Appeal, or sitting of the Circuit Court to defend themselves. I would not defend or support prosecutors who are clearly incompetent or corrupt. Having been a member of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions I can proudly say our prosecutors do their very best with the limited resources at their disposal and when I worked in the office I did not know of one corrupt prosecutor. When I read the insinuations of corruption on the part of the Director or the office all I recall are the cases my then colleagues and I prosecuted and lost due to poor investigation, the absence of witnesses or breaches of the rules of evidence during testimony. The outcome of cases may not always be what the public desires but corruption on the part of prosecutors is not necessarily the reason. Many non-lawyers cannot appreciate that "facts" touted in the media are not always admissible in court. So as long as there is no impropriety on the part of the prosecutors and they did their best, we all have to accept the verdicts we cannot change.
To those prosecutors who choose to continue to serve Jamaica or their country as true ministers of justice, your commitment to the administration of justice is appreciated.
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