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  • 1 year ago
Attorney Wayne Sturge warns that criminal defense lawyers will soon become targets themselves, as he claims that clients are threatening them over the prolonged duration of trials. Rynessa Cutting has more from a UNC media conference.
Transcript
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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