Désolé pour les purement francophones, mais cet article est en anglais, car il parle du système légal britannique. C'est une bonne occasion de mettre en pratique vos connaissances
linguistiques, non?
Recently, I have seen two films about the British criminal justice system which illustrate the title of this article:
"In The Name Of The Father", and
"Criminal Justice". The
first is adapted from the autobiography of one of the
Guilford Four, who was found guilty of a crime he did not commit
(placing a bomb in a pub in London) and spent 15 years in prison, during which his father (charged and found guilty of helping him to bomb the pub), who was with him in prison, died. The second is
a small and very realistic TV-series (very few episodes, but a total length of more than 3 hours), written by an ex-lawyer, depicting a fictional case in which a young man is (also) found guilty of
a crime he did not commit, and spent time in prison because of this mistake. These two stories are, in many ways, very similar.
In
"In The Name Of The Father", the historical context explains the mistake. Indeed, it is set during
The Troubles, when many
terrorist attacks (allegedly conducted by the
IRA) brought widespread fear to the British public. After a pub bombing,
the police arrest a group of Irish immigrants, who were thought to be in the area during the attack. They are tortured and threatened until they decide to sign a paper with a gap left for the
police to write the confession they would like to hear from them. Seven relatives (the Maguire Seven) of the Guilford Four are also arrested and charged with the possession of nitroglycerine used
by the IRA to make bombs (it was later discovered that the test conducted to check the presence of this substance was very unreliable). During the trial, the defendants withdraw their confessions,
but the police deny any use of physical or psychological torture, and claim that they were obtained with the use of normal interrogation procedures. The jury (consisting of British men and women,
who are very likely to have been influenced by their feelings) find them guilty. The judge tells the Guilford Four that he "does not understand why the jury did not find them guilty of high
treason, sentenced by death, a sentence which [he] would have been more than happy to give them". They are all sentenced to prison for different amounts of time.
Guiseppe Conlon (one of the Macguire Seven) and Gerry Conlon (son of the former, and one of the Guilford Four) are in the same prison, and later meet someone (also imprisoned) who tells them that
he is the real bomber, and that he has told this to the police. The police have indeed been told, but decide to ignore this. It is only later, with the help of
Gareth Pierce, a human-rights solicitor, that evidence which had been concealed from the defence was discovered (a note saying "do not show to the
defence" was attached to it and signed by a senior policeman) and the case was reopened. The evidence showed that the typed notes of the police interviews had been heavily edited, which meant that
the police had fabricated evidence, and therefore lied. The convictions were then reversed.
In this case, the defendants were used as scapegoats by the police, who were under great pressure to obtain results. Justice had to be made, at any cost. They wanted to send them to prison,
although they were not guilty, and they were fully aware of this.
In
"Criminal Justice", the false accusations are the result of a series of mistakes made by a young man, Ben Coulter, during an unusual evening. The series follows him throughout that
evening, during the trial, and in prison.
*
Warning : every detail counts, keep your eyes peeled and read carefully (don't worry, the story gets more interesting as you go)*
One evening, Ben (skinny-looking asthmatic young man, in his early 20s) hops in his car to go out. His parents go out by foot, and his car does not seem to want to start, so he takes his father's
cab (he works as a cab driver) without his permission instead. While driving, he receives a phone call, and pulls his car to the side. A girl, who looks about the same age as Ben, enters the cab.
Ben explains that he is not a cab driver, and that it is not his, but the girl (Ben does not know her name) says that she wants to go to the seaside. Ben accepts and drives 40 miles to the seaside.
They order ice-cream, and they run off without paying (at the girl's initiative). They then sit down on the beach. The girl says "I don't want to be alone tonight". She takes a small bag out of her
jacket with two white pills. She takes one, and insists that Ben take one too. They get back into the cab, and go to the girl's house. Inside, they drink quite heavily and play a game with a
kitchen knife, during which Ben accidentally injures her hand. They go up to her bedroom and have sex, and the girl (Ben still does not know her name) throws his inhaler to the side. Later, Ben
wakes up downstairs, sitting at a table, the kitchen knife (with blood) in front of him. He goes up the stairs to the bedroom (and leaves traces of blood on the wall), and sees the girl dead in her
bed. He quickly goes back into the cab, and drives away at high speed before turning back after remembering that he has forgotten his jacket. A neighbour sees him arrive. He tries to open the door,
but it seems to be locked. Because of this, he breaks a window and goes inside. He takes his jacket, and washes off some of the blood traces he has left everywhere. He then takes the bloody kitchen
knife and puts it in his jacket pocket, before leaving again. He then crashes into another car, and the police therefore take him with them on the way to the crime scene. When they arrive, he asks
"Is she dead?" while a police officer goes inside. He comes out after having seen the body. Ben is taken into custody at the police station. The knife is found in his jacket, and he becomes the
prime suspect. His clothes are taken off him to be analysed, and it is discovered that he was at the crime scene. He is charged with rape and murder. His father tells him "don't worry, Ben. We have
the best criminal justice system of the world". A solicitor comes to help him, and tells him that he is not interested in his version of the facts : "the jury chooses the story they like most. We
have the advantage because, since we are the defence, we get to hear their story before we give ours". His parents hire new solicitors, who want him to say he is guilty of manslaughter in order to
go to prison for a shorter period. He decides to come back to his first choice of solicitor. His barrister constructs a fake character for Melanie Lloyd (the victim), saying that she was wild and
unstable, and instructs Ben to plead self-defence. After a while, Ben decides not to follow this, and changes barrister. His new one is Frances Kapoor, a young barrister who has not yet been hired
for a murder trial, although she has already helped the previous team. She believes in Ben's innocence, and lets him tell his story. However, Ben does not remember what happened after he had sex
with Melanie, and the jury finds him to be guilty. He is therefore sentenced to life imprisonment. The judge tells him "the criminal justice system is too strong for you, Ben Coulter. It has seen
past the character you want us to believe is yours".
In between all the trial scenes, we are shown his time in prison. He is supposed to be able to have a cell without anybody else if
that is what he wants, but a prison officer says that it is not possible, there are too many people in the prison. He is known as "featherweight" in a prison ruled by one inmate, who the wardens do
not wish to anger. Ben is mistreated by the others, and the "ruler" of the prison (let's call him that, I can't remember his name) introduces him to heroin, and betrayal. Once he is sentenced, the
wardens tell him that, since he was sentenced to life imprisonment, he should get his own cell, although it is not possible, and give him a job in the prison kitchens. Hooch, his cellmate, asks the
wardens why they gave him the best job available, and why they are so nice. He does not receive an answer, and thinks that it is because they believe him to be innocent. This opinion is shared by
many other inmates, including the "ruler", who Hooch thinks knows who the real murderer is. Meanwhile, Frances Kapoor continues her search for evidence which could prove Ben's innocence. She finds
out that another murder was commited that night near the place where Ben picked up Melanie, and thinks that the two murders were done by the same person. She tells this to Mr Box, who, when
checking the CCTV footage of that night, sees Melanie running away from a suspicious-looking man, in a small street. In prison, Hooch chokes the "ruler" until he reveals the name of the murderer,
and sends the name to Miss Kapoor. This leads to Ben's release.
In this case, it is again pure chance which helps uncover the truth. Looking into archives which are not open to the public leads to the findings of the new evidence, which ultimately secures the
release of those involved. The first case seems more distant from us, as it happened a while ago, during an unstable period. On the other hand, the second case, although imaginary, was
created by someone who used to be a lawyer, and everything is made to be as realistic as possible, which makes it troubling for the viewer, as it is set in 2007, and uses modern techniques such as
forensic testing, which are believed to show the absolute, impartial truth. However, it depends upon the interpretation which is made of forensic evidence. The criminal justice system is therefore
far from perfect, it even has a "rehabilitation committee" for those who have been falsely convicted and sentenced, but these cases are seen much less often than the contrary...
