Saturday, February 23, 2013

Legal Reform, Defense Strategy, Kill All the Witnesses


 

Given the context of how the Anglo-Saxon Legal Systems perform in this day and age, one can easily guess about their source Traditions, that such codes were put in place by a decidedly Classist Society to favor the Rich and Powerful; and no prevision more blatantly fits this mold than that which stipulates that the Accused has the right to face his Accuser, which effectively makes any sworn witness affidavit worthless at trial, even if the Witness is murdered to assure his or her silence so that the Accused can belch out the biggest belly laugh and go on his merry way completely vindicated in the far too obviously blindfolded eyes of the Law.  Yes, yes, yes, while the option to murder all the witnesses belongs to any man who is ever accused, well, the reality of the situation is that the rich and powerful have a great many more resources at their disposal for bringing about such ends – they can set up alibis for themselves at the finest clubs to which even their lawyers and judges belong, and then they can hirer third parties to take care of all the gruesome details of Witness Disposal; while, on the other hand, the accused poor have enough trouble making bail on whatever they had been charged with.  You know, it is kind of a shame that Poor People cannot buy some kind of Legal Insurance, that could provide resources in times of Legal Troubles to make them, well, for the time being, as Resourceful as any Rich Person, so that they too can have all the witnesses against them killed before Trial.  Yes, this would be hard on the Witness Class, but it would be the only way, now, that one could assure Equal Protection for Everybody before the Law.  

 
But isn’t it such an inherently cruel and callous System that gives so little regard for the death of so many witnesses, dying only because of a strategy devised to save the Rich and the Powerful from legal embarrassment.  Yes, I know that the Legal Traditions enfold this Old Recipe for Murder in the cloths of the Ideal, referring to Fairness and the justice of Cross-Examination, etc.  But we need to forget about these Traditions that put forward their Pretend-Ideals as justifications and excuses for the Atrocities that we know actually happen and result directly from the implication of the Legal Logic.  Besides, this is Today, when, really, there are so many Rich and Powerful people about,  that we need to wonder why we should have to go to any great pains to protect them and their privileges.  Honestly, all of this needs to end.  Modern Legal systems need to honor Sworn Witness Affidavits, which should bear all the force of what is now in-court witness testimony.  This would stop the slaughter of witnesses.  Criminals and all the others of the High and Mighty Rich and Powerful Social Classes would no longer have anything to gain from murdering witnesses, outside of  futile revenge, and even then with the Witness Affidavit still going forward, which would preclude a summary acquittal, the Court would more than likely take a severe look at the murder of a witness during the sentencing phase of the trial.  This would make  the Murdering of Witnesses an actual liability, as it should be, instead of what it is now – the only sure way to maintain your innocence.