Miscarriages of Justice - Derek Bentley and Robert King

A young boy named Derek Bentley took part in a bombing attack on London in 1941, which resulted in some brain damage and the development of epilepsy in him. As usual, he walked outside to commit a burglary with his friend Craig. Craig had a 455 Ely revolver and a similar dagger, while Derek had a knife that he had been given by Craig. After being stopped at their first two locations, they had to break into a warehouse. When the cops arrived, Craig chose to shoot his way out but was shot dead after being beaten back. Derek who offered no resistance was arrested and arraigned in court. Derek was sentenced to death by hanging over involvement in the murder of a policeman over a burglary attempt (Hussain, Myuran & Bentley, 2016). In another case, Robert King, a former member of the Black Panther Party was thrown into solitary confinement where he spent his terrifying jail term after had been framed for murdering another prisoner. This article describes the unfortunate story of Derek and Robert who were accused of murder which was largely seen as a miscarriage of justice.

Crime

During the raid at the warehouse, DC Fairfax and an uninformed constable responded first as they were the nearest patrol car. Derek was quickly arrested by DC Fairfax while Craig resisted and shot the officer wounding his shoulder. During the shootout is when Derek is said to have said the words, ’let him have it, Chris.’ At this time Derek offered no resistance to the wounded policeman who lay next to him for over thirty minutes. This was an action of a desperate young criminal who never knew what to do instead of easily overpowering the wounded and unarmed DC Fairfax (Schlichter, 2015). Minutes later backup police officers arrived at the scene and what followed was a series of shootouts between Craig and the police officers. Craig was trying to kill himself by jumping off the building luckily, he never died. Both were arrested and charged with the murder of DC Miles.

In the case of Robert King, unlike Derek, he was a regular in street burglary and arrested sometimes since the age of fourteen. However, he claims that some of the robbery and confrontation with the police cases that he was charged with, he was unarmed at all times. After months of imprisonment, he was moved to Angola where he was immediately put in solitary confinement after learning that he wanted to act as a lawyer for another inmate. A year later, Robert framed murdering another prisoner and was imprisoned until 2001. This was years spent by an innocent citizen for crimes that he never committed.

Mens Rea and Actus Reus

In criminal law, offenses are classified into two elements: 1) the Mens rea which is the guilty mind and 2) the actus reus which is the guilty act. Thus, an act that results in a guilty mind is not a crime itself. But the criminal justice system at times recognize those crimes committed without a guilty mind, although such exceptions are very rare. This concept holds that for an act to constitute a crime, Mens rea, and actus reus must occur simultaneously. Derek’s case can be classified as Mens rea because his actions never amounted to the murder of the police officer, but he was guilty he had willingly offered to accompany Craig to carry out burglary together. On the other hand, Robert’s case falls in the actus reus concept because being an activist; his mind was clear for fighting for injustices. The crime he was convicted of constituted to the guilty of the act since the prisoner who died was in the same cell as Robert.

Trial

The Derek case was controversial, and it landed on three main points:

Firstly, the famous words Derek said during the shooting, ’Let him have it, Chris.’ These words were controversial because it is still not clear whether they were uttered by Derek or they were invented just to strengthen the case by showing a common purpose by the two assailants. However, the words if indeed were said by Derek, it was a way of inciting Craig to shoot. This was the prosecution’s argument presented to the judges. Derek found himself in trouble because the law states that people are committing a crime together with a common purpose, will be held equally responsible Redress for (Historical Injustice ... n.d.). Let’s take for instance if a woman lures her husband to a suitable place where a hired assailant kills him. Even if she did not do the act, she is equally guilty. However, the case of Derek was quite different (Davy, 1997).

DC Fairfax had not formally arrested Derek, i.e., tell him his rights and charged him for a given reason. It is clear that DC Fairfax had just detained him and he had not attempted to escape. This is why as wounded as Fairfax was, he did not formally charge Dereck. It was the last thing he might have had in mind. This made Dereck appear as a poor and confused witness to a case.

The last consideration was the controversy over whether Derek’s mental instability was fit to stand the trial. A report from Maudsley Hospital stated that he was of low intelligence, illiterate, almost borderline retarded, and was suffering from epilepsy.

Robert, on the other hand, suffered the most because he was placed in solitary confinement which has been argued by many scholars as a violation of their rights against ’unusual/cruel punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the US constitution.

Unfairness of Execution

It is relevant to say that Derek to some extent could not have known that his actions would lead him to this trouble. Everyone knows that by killing someone, you will be subjected to death by hanging. But no really expects someone to be hanged if he or she has not personally committed murder and that the sentence, therefore, should not be too harsh. If both Craig and Bentley had been old enough to be hanged, there would not have been a much public outcry. People were not happy with the ten-year sentence given to Craig while Derek was to be executed and hanged. The same way there is Roberts has been widely viewed as controversial. For those who knew him and what he fought for as an activist, no one expected that his life would turn as it did. The captivity was solely based on the perception that labeled him and other black community as criminal and unworthy. Despite all the politically racist policies and convictions, Robert kept pushing for justice for all

Justice in the End

In 1998 July, Bentley’s case was presented by the Criminal Cases Review Commission who later referred it to the Court of Appeal. The appeal was heard before Lord Thomas Bingham together with Lord Justice Kennedy, and Justice Collins. Their judgment delivered on 30th of July was that Derek’s conviction was, according to their words, ’unsafe.’ The argument of the current Lord Chief Justice states explains that the court denied him a fair trial which is every single British citizen’s birthright. He continues to argue that this was a case of continuing regret of a mistrial that occurred and at the time of the judgment, defectors had not been recognized (Miscarriages of justice, 2010).

The Lord Chief Justice was clear that he supported capital punishment perhaps the reason why he had many murder cases that resulted in conviction and death sentence. There had also been many amendments in parliament that resulted in the low whereby anyone guilty of murder was sentenced to death. Although am pleased, just like many, with the Appeal Court judgment, the Home Secretary then should take responsibility for Derek’s Death which could have been avoided even after the verdict of being guilty of murder (Criminal Injustice in America JewishBoston, n.d.). To my view, political pressures, race issues, and the need to avenge the death of a police officer influenced the judgment. But with the decision by the Appeal Court that was true justice, no new evidence was acquired, and everything we know is what Home Secretary used in arriving at their decision. Nevertheless, it is a step forward despite the police now handing the death sentences on the streets which have heightened the conflict between the police and the black community. As for Robert, his conviction was overturned in 2001 after an appeal that sought to review his case. However, this does not account for the harsh and cruel; punishment they faced while in confinement. In fact, the solitary confinements are just an extension of slave capital punishment that should not be considered a correctional facility. (Dissent and Injustice, n.d.).

Conclusion

This article well represents and illustrates injustices in the judicial system. Bentley here is the victim of an injustice judgment that is nevertheless constitutional. The death sentence was very harsh considering that he did not shoot either did he try to escape. In addition to this, he was mentally retarded failing to even answer questions in court. Robert also suffered false accusations by the authority for standing up to argue a case for justice of a prisoner. The two cases are a continuing regret that should be studied properly to avoid such sentences that is injustice in the eyes of many even for those who support the death sentence for people found guilty of murder.

References

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