More on The High Cost of Justice
I want to make it clear that if the cost is truly necessary, then we need to spend the money.
The case of Charles Ng demonstrates the need to do what it takes. He was a brutal cold killer: The worst of humanity: Or perhaps not human. In the end, he was convicted of murdering six men, two women, and two baby boys out of an estimated nineteen murders. His accomplice Leonard Lake committed suicide soon after being arrested on an unrelated charge.
This case accumulated over six tons of evidence, and the cost approached ten million dollars. The state of California pitched in, and this resulted in a substantial overpayment of around eleven million by the state. Fourteen years elapsed between the discovery of the crimes and the sentence of death.
One of the reasons for the high cost here, was the reluctance of Canada to extradite Ng. Once extradited, he could manipulate the process for a long time. Then there was the trial that lasted eight months.
I’m not sure why the trial stretched on so long. Ng was implicated by videotapes and other evidence. I imagine the prosecutor wanted to make conviction certain, but, I suspect, more efficiency would have been in order.
As far as Ng’s manipulations, I would think that after using the same tactic three times (firing the attorneys, suing attorneys), the system would have gotten wise.
On may 19, 2004, the Sacramento Bee printed a story on the high cost of several California trials (1). It is an interesting read about how big money flows from the state for these cases, but little accounting is done. In the Juan Corona case, the prosecutor ran up a tab that included a $1200.00 dinner in Mexico and $1,100.00 in hotel charges that did not include a room. California kicked in four million dollars for the trial.
Putting aside prosecutorial padding, high legal costs can be justified sometimes. There are dangerous people who cannot be allowed to have free reign. This is a part of justice.
But, there is always the other side. First is that the trials are not for show: they are not to heal victims. Trials should ascertain facts and dispense justice. Competent prosecutors will know that.
Second is that the other side is that the cost of justice is too high for many citizens. Attorneys need to get paid, the suspect can be behind bars awaiting trial with no income and if they had a job, it likely would have evaporated. I wonder how many plead guilty simply because of the economics.
Third is the problem that occurs when the hysterics sweep the country, and every prosecutor needs to have the case that corresponds to the hysteria.
So the Fells Acres case involved the allegations of ritual child abuse that ended with the imprisonment of the brother and sister who owned the child care center with their mother. The mother died during the investigation and trial. Many of these children still suffer from implanted memories a result of the zealousness of police and social workers. The belief is that they were hung from trees in view of passersby, and they were tortured in secret rooms. No physical evidence supported any of the charges. Testimony of three- and four-year-old children was the sole basis of the trial. The real criminal here were the authorities who have yet to be charged.
The Fells Acres accused paid a great cost that can never be repaid. The children in Fells Acres will continue to pay into their adult lives due to the implanted memories that are not easily undone in many people. This is not exceptional.
To get to good justice, we first need balance. Not every trial needs to be an event. Better for justice that no trial achieves that status, but given the voracious appetite for scabrousness in this county, they will still hit the news waves. A sound investigation and presentation of evidence is what police and prosecutors owe to society. The ability of defendants to adequately defend themselves against the might of the state is what we owe to ourselves to maintain justice.
Citizens need to be aware that evidence is to be weighed at trial. Juries should not be swayed by whatever popular theme is current in the nighttime television “dramas.”
No one gets a free ride. The authorities are just as capable of engaging in criminal behavior as us mere mortals. They need to face the same penalties.
(1) http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/special_reports/laci_peterson/peterson/trial/story/8591901p-9459408c.html
by Brian McCorkle
in category Criminal Justice,Rants,Scott Peterson
