Wednesday, July 19, 2006
"you're dealing with people, not fucking case files."
case's plea-in-mitigation is this thurs. went down to the scene to watch the interviewing of some witnesses; charge was amended yesterday morning coz the so-called victim decided tt after seeing my mentor, his chance of winning the fight was considerably reduced. oh well.
but point to note is tt our client - and the victim - were given the wrong information coz 1 IO didn't do his job and 1 lawyer didn't do his job either. so you got a case where there is provocation - but coz the IO doesn't interview the other 'witnesses' who were involved at the scene of the 'crime' and therefore has no way of accounting for our client's sustained injuries; the results of his medical tt were finally released yesterday morning came as a mighty shock and a major blow to the case. the results tt, had the client's previous lawyer actually done his job properly and had had them collected much earlier, as well as properly advised our client's of his rights other than telling him to just plead guilty to a charge of s 325 of the code which carries a max sentence of 7 years jail and the possibility of caning.
i mean like, what the fuck? if this guy is some truly evil bastard tt deserves it then all hail the law. but he isn't. once you get to find out the circumstances of the case - and backed by medical evidence i might add, you realise tt there are so many factors tt were complacently ignored by people who were too 'confident' of their positions and the kind of work tt they'd been doing to actually realise tt different cases might have different fact patterns.
you're dealing with people. not fucking case files. everything tt you do, every mistake tt you make, is the difference between someone going to jail and someone walking free. everything tt you do is the pivotal point tt decides whether justice is actually meted out. i don't think there is anything inherently wrong with the force, but i believe tt it is the complacent who give it a very bad name. it's not just about keeping order and upholding the law - you have to know the reasons and objectives behind tt. if in the name of 'law and order', you send an innocent to jail, or you punish - or allow to be punished - a man far beyond what he is culpable of, then what kind of officer of the law are you?
so now they're doing the research for thurs, and i'm still working on tt paper. information in singapore is relatively hard to come by, and it's sad tt the procedural aspect of the legal system is such tt it's hard to prove anything other than guilt. sometimes some facts might be dubious, but it's not as easy to tell coz the court accepts almost any 122(6) statement so long as police officers can corroborate tt there was neither inducement, threat nor promise. which can sometimes be disturbing.
i guess i am still too idealistic. in wanting to do... well, what is right. in wanting to help people. big words for someone who hasn't even started working, who in the words of my parents - hasn't even seen the real world yet. all i have had are snippets from this side and the other; and both might be right and both might be noble. yet the procedural bindings of one side, and the weakened battle against those bindings by another... sometimes may be disheartening.
but still we fight on. coz things can and will change in time. some events might need to occur before these changes can take place; some instability might have to happen, some chaos might have to ensue, and most of all, some people might have to change their entire tired mindsets, tt the ways of the old are no longer applicable in this day and age. but already there is progress; if not at the legislative level, then at least at the intepretive level. and tt gives us a reason to keep believing.
and my days might be tiring and draining and boring all at once or even intermittently, but my nights are happy. coz i have you. and whether it's bouncing ideas of you, arguing or discussing subjects such as the situation in lebanon or the legal system or the justice system in singapore, whether it's just eating or driving around or just being with you, or whether it's hearing your heart beat under my ear... i just can't get close enough to you.
now playing: hotel costes - cafe de flor
but point to note is tt our client - and the victim - were given the wrong information coz 1 IO didn't do his job and 1 lawyer didn't do his job either. so you got a case where there is provocation - but coz the IO doesn't interview the other 'witnesses' who were involved at the scene of the 'crime' and therefore has no way of accounting for our client's sustained injuries; the results of his medical tt were finally released yesterday morning came as a mighty shock and a major blow to the case. the results tt, had the client's previous lawyer actually done his job properly and had had them collected much earlier, as well as properly advised our client's of his rights other than telling him to just plead guilty to a charge of s 325 of the code which carries a max sentence of 7 years jail and the possibility of caning.
i mean like, what the fuck? if this guy is some truly evil bastard tt deserves it then all hail the law. but he isn't. once you get to find out the circumstances of the case - and backed by medical evidence i might add, you realise tt there are so many factors tt were complacently ignored by people who were too 'confident' of their positions and the kind of work tt they'd been doing to actually realise tt different cases might have different fact patterns.
you're dealing with people. not fucking case files. everything tt you do, every mistake tt you make, is the difference between someone going to jail and someone walking free. everything tt you do is the pivotal point tt decides whether justice is actually meted out. i don't think there is anything inherently wrong with the force, but i believe tt it is the complacent who give it a very bad name. it's not just about keeping order and upholding the law - you have to know the reasons and objectives behind tt. if in the name of 'law and order', you send an innocent to jail, or you punish - or allow to be punished - a man far beyond what he is culpable of, then what kind of officer of the law are you?
so now they're doing the research for thurs, and i'm still working on tt paper. information in singapore is relatively hard to come by, and it's sad tt the procedural aspect of the legal system is such tt it's hard to prove anything other than guilt. sometimes some facts might be dubious, but it's not as easy to tell coz the court accepts almost any 122(6) statement so long as police officers can corroborate tt there was neither inducement, threat nor promise. which can sometimes be disturbing.
i guess i am still too idealistic. in wanting to do... well, what is right. in wanting to help people. big words for someone who hasn't even started working, who in the words of my parents - hasn't even seen the real world yet. all i have had are snippets from this side and the other; and both might be right and both might be noble. yet the procedural bindings of one side, and the weakened battle against those bindings by another... sometimes may be disheartening.
but still we fight on. coz things can and will change in time. some events might need to occur before these changes can take place; some instability might have to happen, some chaos might have to ensue, and most of all, some people might have to change their entire tired mindsets, tt the ways of the old are no longer applicable in this day and age. but already there is progress; if not at the legislative level, then at least at the intepretive level. and tt gives us a reason to keep believing.
and my days might be tiring and draining and boring all at once or even intermittently, but my nights are happy. coz i have you. and whether it's bouncing ideas of you, arguing or discussing subjects such as the situation in lebanon or the legal system or the justice system in singapore, whether it's just eating or driving around or just being with you, or whether it's hearing your heart beat under my ear... i just can't get close enough to you.
# posted by Kitana @ 7/19/2006 09:38:00 AM 
