Congrats to Francis Joseph

THE EDITOR: I must congratulate Mr Francis Joseph of the Newsday, The People’s Newspaper, not just for reporting on what transpired at the Lance Small conspiracy trial, but also for educating readers about the difference in jurisprudence between the USA and Trinidad and Tobago. It’s the first time I have read such a detailed account of a judge’s directions to the jury on rules of law which jurors ought to follow. These instructions were succinct but indeed informative to the layman.

On the judge’s instructions concerning “reasonable doubt” I have noted that when an accused pleads “not guilty” it does not mean he is not guilty, but rather that he is exercising the presumption of law in his favour and that it is for the prosecution to prove guilty. In simple words, the plea of not guilty simply means “prove that I am guilty and make sure of it beyond reasonable doubt.” I hope all the armchair attorneys who express their opinions on the call-in radio shows have read Mr Joseph’s report. His reportage of the trial has helped readers to look furtively into successful methods used by criminals in ungunning the police in Trinidad and Tobago in “blood-and-guts” crimes.

Crime fighting techniques:
The investigation by the Police Department in the States has convinced me that Government should be seeking help of law enforcers overseas, and have our police officers trained in new techniques of detection, investigation, forensics, intelligence analysis and prosecution, as our present mix of new crime-fighting techniques and old-fashioned policing is just not bringing results sufficiently fast to alleviate this national menace called crime. The situation has become so bad in certain areas, you can walk one block and never leave the scene of the crime.

An enormous task:
There is no illusion about the enormity of the task we face with respect to crime in Trinidad and Tobago, and while I don’t know to what degree is the collective genius at the University of the West Indies being used to assist the Minister of National Security, crime, being a social problem could be a daunting exercise in any country. But I believe if we get overseas help from the USA and Britain, together with up-to-date training of police officers, we will be willing to give the efforts of the Ministry of National Security a try, and thus express less scepticism. Congrats once again Francis Joseph for your concise but interesting reportage of the Lance Small conspiracy trial.

RUBY MCDONALD
Arima