The Place of Plea Bargain In Capital Murder Cases — SEGA L’éveilleur®

It will be utterly irresponsible for anyone with a pulse to watch the trajectory of our society & be proud to say this is what our children deserve as a legacy. Imagine the continuous ruin of the value system, loss of identity and the reinforcement of harmful cultural practices.

Let me limit my thoughts of today to our tenacious and consistent work towards national security cum the overhaul of the criminal justice system via reforms and commend Lagos State on their efforts on the visible improvement at the State’s Ministry of Justice. However, more needs to be done.

I read this piece on a case at the Ikeja Special Offenses Court where a 23year old Chef was given a 28years imprisonment sentence for killing a Lawyer in an Hotel in Opebi, Lagos.

What caught my attention was the Plea Bargain entered into by defense. 👉🏽http://opr.news/3ed21230210921en_ng?link=1&client=news

Again, Lagos MUST be commended with the way they have raised the bar with the state’s jurisprudence and administration of criminal justice. Plea Bargain has been identified as one of the accepted mode of disposing criminal cases thus reducing delays while decongesting dockets.

With the understanding of what works in criminal cases outside Capital Murders, I’m forced to ruminate, empathize and see from the perspective of the family of victims of murderers seeking plea bargain. It is also instructive to see the equitable use of this in sane climes.

I need not stress the cost implication of any protracted criminal prosecution on the state and in cases of a difficult defense, plea bargain can be used to ease the production and save cost/time. But is this case that difficult to prove? Is the defense difficult?

There are many global instances where there is need to exchange vital information for plea bargain where the case may require Intel on capturing other conspirators on an ongoing investigation in order to save lives but is that the case here? Are we protecting the victim’s family?

To the bereaved family who may be nearing closure with the sentence, the plea bargain in a capital murder case makes mockery of death and the act of wanton murder. Justice must be seen to be served and must be served in any humane society.

I am a strong advocate of Restorative Justice, a principle that prioritizes the admittance and acknowledgment of wrongs by defendant, while sharing & demonstrating the understanding of the negative effects of their crime on social at large cum the agreement on terms of reparation.

I strongly agree also that the complexity of our society imposes on our Justice System the need to focus on Healing and not merely punishment and deterrent. But given the spate of decadence with some of our youth murdering their way to the promise of instant diabolical wealth do we cap that morbid lust with an anchor of Plea Bargain in Capital Murder Cases where the facts are clear?

The opinion of the victim’s family must count in these processes and I commend the Lagos Ministry of Justice for their upcoming stakeholders meeting on PLEA BARGAIN. ⚖️

• @segalink ⛱