By EARYEL BOWLEG
Tribune Staff Reporter
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
DEFENCE lawyers oppose eliminating jury trials, saying the diverse backgrounds of jurors make the system preferable.
The current and three former chief justices emphasised the benefits of bench trials last week, highlighting their efficiency, among other things.
However, defence lawyer David Cash noted yesterday that many cases come down to the "credibility or believability of the police’s oral testimony," which he said jurors might assess differently from judges.
"The police interact with members of different communities differently," he said. "There are wealthy communities that are meant to be protected and poorer communities that are meant to be policed. Judges don’t live in those communities where the police kick down doors and shoot dogs. Judges do not experience the type of interactions with police that ordinary members of the public endure.”
“Also, there are troublesome incentives associated with judge-only trials. A government may be tempted to give extensions to judges who convict at a higher rate or give promotions to appellate courts to judges who convict more often. The jury system needs to be bolstered and not abandoned.”
Another attorney, Ian Cargill, suggested the small size of The Bahamas makes it best not to have one's future left "to the mercy of one".
"It's dangerous," he said.
Court of Appeal president Sir Michael Barnett argued during an event marking the 25th anniversary of the Eugene Dupuch Distinguished Lecture last week that jurors of “humble origins” may not be able to fully grasp complicated matters like complex fraud cases.
Attorney Romona Farquharson called this a poor assumption yesterday.
“I don't see why there's a feeling that they would, the average populace or persons who have been selected to a jury, be backward in some way and not able to understand the concept of fraud or stealing," she said.
“We have to be so careful in not wanting to just throw the baby out with the bathwater because when you're talking about your jurors, those are persons who ought to have the same sort of demographic, sort of background, and who can somewhat understand you and make that determination with that sort of thinking and understanding in mind.”
She noted that compared to jurors, judges sometimes come from more affluent backgrounds than defendants.
Another defence lawyer, Bjorn Ferguson, believes jury trials should remain for indictable offences like murder, but supports giving people the option of a bench trial in some instances, noting this exists in the Magistrates Court for summary matters.
“Normally, the jurors can’t follow the evidence or can’t follow the flow of the trial, and so that could be unfair both to the defendant and to the prosecution," he said.
Attorney General Ryan Pinder said on Sunday that the government is unlikely to put forward a constitutional referendum concerning jury trials, a constitutional right.
Comments
Sickened 8 months, 4 weeks ago
Considering the vast majority of our population only has a grade 6 level of understanding then I don't think the general public should be making any difficult decisions. Just look at the difficulty some of our MP's have in reading and articulation. Our society just isn't ready.
Honestman 8 months, 4 weeks ago
This Government seems to believe that "tourism numbers" is the only barometer for assessing the Nation's health. Much better barometers are: how safe do people feel in their own country? How swiftly and efficiently is justice served? If you need justice in today's Bahamas, well good luck! The courts are log-jammed and prisons are overcrowded. The wheels of justice are grinding to a halt. The preservation of jury trials is one of the final protections afforded to the ordinary man in the street. If a man or woman is wrongly charged then he or she can at least be comforted by the fact that a jury of his/her peers will surely come to the rescue. Abolishing jury trials (even for certain types of offence) would be an admission of defeat by our politicians. Instead of patting themselves on the back for the new record numbers of tourists they should be focusing on improving the administration of justice. Then Bahamians from all socio-economic groups may come to enjoy the quality of life they deserve and the tourism product may be preserved for generations to come.
themessenger 8 months, 4 weeks ago
Of course, the defense lawyers are going to squeal about this, you're talking about their bread and butter. As to taking comfort from my "peers" coming to my rescue, well, that's cold comfort and another story. When you consider that jurors are supposedly selected from all walks of life, from the very intelligent to the supremely ignorant, will you end up with a jury comprised of the former or of the latter? Also, having served on a number of juries in the past, it was interesting to note that most of the defense lawyers immediately challenge any white person selected. the significance of this I leave to your own interpretation. When you also consider that a large proportion of our population today are semiliterate at best, I would personally rather be judged by a panel of three judges on the evidence presented rather than the "feelings" and limited intelligence of twelve of our average citizens.
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