THE EDITOR:
THE ruling by Justice Volney instructing the jury to decide whether it wishes to stop the Naraynsingh-Ramasir trial for the reason that it cannot, on the evidence led by the State, render a verdict of guilty is a sound one.

This is the first time I have heard of a jury rendering a not guilty verdict midway through a case.

I am not a lawyer but I have studied and taught American constitutional law and I don’t recall ever reading of a case in which the jury rendered a verdict midway through a case.

I am familiar with defense lawyers making no-case submissions at several times during a trial but not of a jury deciding one’s guilt or innocence during the proceedings.

In the now famous O.J. Simpson trial, for example, the lawyers tried unsuccessfully to end the trial at several junctures.

They had to wait for the jury to acquit at the end of the trial.

Nevertheless, I think offering the jury an opportunity to consider the evidence for conviction midway through the trial is an excellent idea.

Trial judges should use this procedure to end a trial early if a prosecution’s case lacks merit.

The idea is a novel and creative one and should be encouraged if the jury feels the prosecution has not made a case to convict.

It would be foolish for the prosecution to think that it would come up with incriminating evidence against an accused when the defense makes its presentation; the defense would not help the prosecution.

I believe it to be a wise and sound decision by Judge Volney to allow the jury to decide on the case early.

It saves the jury time and the State a lot of money.

THE EDITOR:
POLICE Commissioner Trevor Paul’s admittance that he underestimated the crime situation in the country was unfortunate because he, more than any other citizen, should be aware of our crime situation.

The Police Service will continue to have problems reducing the murder rate and other serious crimes in the country unless it is given the manpower, equipment and technology to combat crime effectively.

I heard Paul state during a meeting of the Joint Select Committee headed by Professor Ramesh Deosaran, that he was committed to creating a safer society for all citizens.

More than a year later the murder rate has reached unprecedented levels.

Many people are even speculating that this year may be the worst ever.

What is needed is for government to provide funds to the police to purchase more cars as well as all the modern equipment necessary to deal with criminals.

Citizens all over the country are complaining that there are insufficient police patrols in their community and they continue to wonder when the police will be provided with enough vehicles to do so.

People are anxiously waiting for surveillance cameras to be placed at traffic-lights and other strategic locations in the country.

Commissioner Paul has the Herculean task of removing bad eggs from the Police Service.

As long as we have rogue cops, prisons officers and soldiers around, the more difficult it would be to reduce crime in Trinidad and Tobago in any meaningful way.

Police officers who repeatedly absent themselves from cases involving fellow officers in the hope that the rogues go free, must be removed from the Service.

It’s taking too long to deal with the criminal elements in the Police Service, which is not helping to improve the image of this important institution.

It is well-known that for many years, people entered the Police Service because only a primary school education was required to do so.

The Service may have attracted more citizens if the prerequisite had been on par with that of the Civil Service.

Many bright young people with the physical requirements never bothered to become police officers because they felt that the Police Service was reserved for people who did not do well at school.

People are also hesitant to join the Police Department even today because of favouritism, nepotism and other problems.

Some officers in the past were not promoted even after many years of dedicated service and no one could give them a valid reason for this.

Many qualified young people will also continue to shun the Police Service unless it deals with rogue cops and is given the latest technology and equipment to police the country more effectively.

I agree with Fyzabad MP Chandradesh Sharma that the police exams should be handled by the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT).

In closing, I wish to point out that if proper facilities are made available to the police and crimes continue unabated, then the Police Commissioner should be forced to resign.

However, at present, it will be unfair to ask the Commissioner to do so because he is working with limited resources.

THE EDITOR:
I HAD previously written a letter regarding the Customs Officer Entrance Examination technical and legal matters.

Based on this I made a public call for the scrapping of the exam.

Apparently this fell on deaf ears.

I am reliably informed that from the 1,200 candidates who wrote the exam, only 70 persons passed.

However, there are more than 100 vacancies in the Customs Department.

What a quandary the government finds itself in!

Are they going to interview persons who failed the exam to fill all the vacancies?

Had the authorities listened to my advice, the government would not have found itself between the devil and the deep blue sea.

I make this appeal to set another exam or interview all candidates.

THE EDITOR:
SIR, crime, crime, crime, the bedevilled word today.

The government is behaving like a rich man who showers material things on his brats, hoping that they will mend their wicked ways.

This has never worked.

They are not brainstorming the problem, as they are more concerned with their internal problems of corruption.

Every problem in TnT is followed by solutions transplanted from foreign countries.

God himself has given man all the solutions right here in nature.

This is called natural education.

If you want to remove weeds, you do not use a whacker (blimp, eye in the sky), you use a hoe, so that the roots are taken out.

If your house develops a few leaks at midnight, you use containers temporarily, and in the morning you go to the source of the problem, the roof.

A short-term measure could be flash band, or remove the sheet of galvanise immediately.

This is common sense, or natural education.

One does not have to import for this knowledge.

The root of the crime problem is drugs.

The government knows this, as this is common knowledge.

The real problem is, “Who will bell the cat?”

Since people are now talking (Paris, Paul, Dhansook), we may never (conveniently) solve the problem of the $700m drug bust, the AS Bryden fire, or the murder of Dr. Khoury.

Finally, I say this without fear or favour: “The day when passion is accepted as a mark of womanhood, it will mark the beginning of the end of femininity.

“By her virtue, the woman should ensure the salvation of her husband and the world.”

That is why our place of birth is called our “Motherland”.

Today, women are fully involved in almost every aspect of criminal activities in this country.

No nation can be built strong and stable, except on the spiritual culture of its women.

This is the only way out of the horror in which the world is simmering.

When women are true and brave, kind and compassionate, virtuous and pious, the world can have an era of peace and joy.