There are currently more than 120 people on bail who have been charged with murder and more than 160 armed robbery suspects on bail, The Bahama Journal has discovered.
According to research, these people were released over the last five years because the courts failed to try them in a reasonable time.
After being on remand between 18 months and two years, a suspect is usually released by the courts on bail.
The concern that some officials and members of the public have is that some of the suspects on bail are committing other crimes.
Only recently, Commissioner of Police Paul Farquharson pointed to concerns the police have about the criminal justice system, saying this is a “big problem”.
He took it a step further saying, “I believe it could be much more effective, but we all have to be on the same page-We look at persons who have been in the system and there are many of those who continue to be involved in a life of crime. Unfortunately, some of these persons are persons who we have caught over and again and they get smarter and smarter every day, but most of them – or quite a few of them – are on bail for several other offences.”
Government officials, including authorities in the Office of the Attorney General, have pointed to concerns of their own.
Director of Public Prosecutions Bernard Turner has spoken about the serious challenge of getting some witnesses to appear for cases, or getting them to tell the truth.
It’s partly why officials have advanced the Witness Protection Bill to the House of Assembly to stiffen sentences for perjury and witness tampering.
But the concerns go far beyond the role of witnesses in certain trials.
In an interview with The Bahama Journal on the bail issue, Prime Minister Perry Christie said there are several issues at play, and he expressed alarm over the numbers.
“I have no hesitation about saying that it concerns me greatly,” Prime Minister Christie said.
“Obviously, law and order are heavily influenced by our capacity to process and have cases brought before the courts and have people tried by their peers-and so when there is a backlog or some kind of problem developing in the system that interferes with this due process and then courts determine that they must release people on bail, I have a great concern when your analysis takes you to a conclusion that many of the people, if not some of the people who are on bail, commit other offences.”
He said when this happens the whole system of justice is subjected to questioning.
“So very clearly governments at the executive level must take note of these things and must be prepared to review constantly, with a view to seeing whether practices ought to be changed by law or whether the system itself needs to have additional personnel, additional courts, additional resources to better facilitate the administration of justice,” the prime minister said.
“As to my view on it, I propose to take action soon that will be very clear in my efforts to improve what exists today.”
While law enforcement and other authorities are concerned that some people on bail are committing other crimes, President of The Bahamas Bar Association Wayne Munroe, who is also a prominent defense attorney, believes that there could be a significant number of those suspects who are indeed innocent.
“We have very little prosecutorial discretion here so people get charged with cases that the prosecution may well know will not end in a conviction so there is no real drive to bring the matter on for trial,” Mr. Munroe told The Bahama Journal.
While law enforcement and other authorities are concerned that some people on bail are committing other crimes, President of The Bahamas Bar Association Wayne Munroe, who is also a prominent defense attorney, believes that there could be a significant number of those suspects who are indeed innocent.
“So I wouldn’t be surprised if the 35 out of the 70 murders in 2000 where the persons are on bail in half the cases the people shouldn’t have been charged in the first place. What the public must understand is that those 35 people, if they’re in fact innocent, would have been remanded for two years and we will not compensate them for that time or help them rebuild their lives. It need not take long for a case to be tried.”
Mr. Munroe said that this year, he completed a case where the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in September after the case was argued in July. The homicide happened in 2004.
“The case went entirely from the event happening to completion in under 18 months,” he noted. “So why should the law not say that 18 months is a reasonable time in terms of delay? In some jurisdictions, the Crown only has six months to prosecute.”
The Bar Association president believes that public hysteria is largely to blame for the delays.
He explained, “You have some idiot jump up and start crying about crime-without reference to statistics and everyone begs for blood and so the police feel pressured to charge more people, many of whom they have no case against.
“They then warehouse them in the prison until the court says, ‘enough; you either try the person or not’. To be quite frank, I think it’s about time the courts get around to quashing cases altogether after a five [or three] year delay-and let them choose the sensible cases to charge because it’s an egregious thing to destroy a man’s life in a year or two years when 50 percent of the cases shouldn’t have been brought in the first place.”
At the prison, Superintendent Dr. Elliston Rahming is mandated to follow court orders.
Dr. Rahming said the need for ongoing research into criminal activity and the persons who pass through the judicial system is vital if that system is to become more efficient.
Speaking to the numbers of people on bail, he said, “That fact – if I may call it that – speaks to the need for ongoing research into criminological matters in The Bahamas because we need to be guided by sound research so that we can formulate policies that work.
“If this is correct then persons at the policy level ought to take note of how we go about doing things in The Bahamas. This can only happen if we’re driven and guided by ongoing research.”
Police released figures recently that show that in every major category so far this year, crime rates are up.
Police said they had solved 76 percent of the 41 murders that had been committed up to October 21.
The Bar Association estimates that between 50 to 52 percent of people charged with murder are acquitted.
There are 29 people now on death row at Her Majesty’s Prison.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
