00:00On the heels of the shooting death of state prosecutor Randall Hector,
00:04criminal defense attorney Wayne Sturge is sounding an alarm.
00:08I believe it will get worse and yes, there is an attack.
00:12There's no evidence that the killing in Kumoto Manzanilla is anything but a human invasion at this point.
00:21But we've had two prosecutors killed in the last 10 years.
00:25So it is not unfathomable that if things remain the same, there's likely to be some more.
00:34I'm not wishing it. We are hoping against it.
00:37His comments come on the heels of the Prison Officers Association,
00:41reporting heightened threats to his officers during the SOE.
00:45Sturge says defense attorneys are not exempt.
00:49Having heard some of the things that persons at the elements say,
00:57it's not going to stop at prosecutors.
00:59Very soon, they'll come after us because there are many prisoners who say
01:03that they blame the defense lawyers for the delay in the criminal justice system
01:08when the truth is we have no control.
01:10We can only try to pressure for a start.
01:13But there are prisoners who have said, just now we'll start killing you all out.
01:18So it's out there. It's quite possible.
01:21And after the defense lawyers, who next?
01:24Sturge is of the opinion that the state points fingers at the judicial system
01:29for the state of crime in this country.
01:31But he says they are not addressing the root of the problem,
01:35which is crime detection and prevention.
01:38You can't leave people in limbo.
01:41They always say our system is like Alice in Wonderland.
01:45Because for much of the crime, the punishment is a deprivation of liberty.
01:49But the reality is people are charged, deprived of their liberty for many years,
01:55in fact sometimes even as much as 20 years, and then they win.
01:59So that's in essence Alice in Wonderland, where the king said,
02:03well, you are guilty, now let's hear the evidence.
02:07That can't continue to be the status quo.
02:10Sturge says another key element in the fight against crime
02:14is the cleaning up of the police service.
02:16He had the following advice.
02:18If you have a PSB, a professional standards bureau in Trinidad and Tobago,
02:22staffed with local police officers,
02:25do you really think that things can be kept secret?
02:30No.
02:32There are ways in which persons are alerted.
02:36So PSB investigates police officers,
02:39but I've seen instances where PSB or officers in PSB
02:43notified persons who they say were their batch,
02:47that's the term,
02:49and if they do that they in essence frustrate the process.
02:51What you need to do,
02:53it doesn't take a very large contingent,
02:56but you need persons from outside.
02:58Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
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