Comments on: Isn’t executing a man in cold blood enough? http://blog.geeklawyer.org/2007/10/27/isnt-executing-a-man-in-cold-blood-enough/ A barrister gossips & rants on intellectual property law, the legal system and civil liberties. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:58:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Geeklawyer http://blog.geeklawyer.org/2007/10/27/isnt-executing-a-man-in-cold-blood-enough/#comment-18129 Geeklawyer Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:20:38 +0000 http://blog.geeklawyer.org/2007/10/27/isnt-executing-a-man-in-cold-blood-enough/#comment-18129 Thanks, I always like a nice bit of polemic, me. I'm sure you don't mean that the deplorable killing of your innocent cousin justifies the killing of an equally innocent Brazilian? Sadly the officers who executed de Menezes never were put on trial, nor were their seniors. Had they been, I would have been content for them to be fairly tried and then convicted, even though the prospects of convicting a non-bent cop of anything other than dropping litter is vanishingly small. However we'll never because the CPS lacked the nerve to stand up to their political masters. Almost like living in Saudi Arabia, in some respects. Thanks, I always like a nice bit of polemic, me.

I’m sure you don’t mean that the deplorable killing of your innocent cousin justifies the killing of an equally innocent Brazilian?

Sadly the officers who executed de Menezes never were put on trial, nor were their seniors. Had they been, I would have been content for them to be fairly tried and then convicted, even though the prospects of convicting a non-bent cop of anything other than dropping litter is vanishingly small. However we’ll never because the CPS lacked the nerve to stand up to their political masters.

Almost like living in Saudi Arabia, in some respects.

]]> By: Simon Myerson http://blog.geeklawyer.org/2007/10/27/isnt-executing-a-man-in-cold-blood-enough/#comment-18128 Simon Myerson Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:56:54 +0000 http://blog.geeklawyer.org/2007/10/27/isnt-executing-a-man-in-cold-blood-enough/#comment-18128 Great polemic. However, I'm not sure why you have a problem with the fact that the defendant in a criminal trial wishes to advance a defence. I know that you have already decided the defence is nonsense, but the difficulty is that the jury swore an oath to try the case on the evidence, rather than their prejudices. It is inconvenient, I know, but the rule of law means that there is one standard for everyone, even the people one doesn't like. Moreover, it is also the case that sometimes (as Freud would put it) a cigar is just a cigar - and that an accident is just an accident. It is not always necessary to allocate blame for something to be resolved. Speaking as someone who has lost a close relative in a suicide bombing, I rather wish the police had shot the gentleman before he exploded himself on top of my 15 year old cousin. That is not to say that S De Menezes' death is an acceptable matter - I am content to abide the verdict on that - merely that the issue of when and when not to intervene is inevitably made under highly charged circumstances in the most difficult of conditions. Nor is this an "execution". Perhaps such serious words should be saved until they are apposite? The Prosecution case is cock-up, not conspiracy. Unless, of course, that is part of the conspiracy too? Bet it's the same people who murdered Diana. Great polemic. However, I’m not sure why you have a problem with the fact that the defendant in a criminal trial wishes to advance a defence. I know that you have already decided the defence is nonsense, but the difficulty is that the jury swore an oath to try the case on the evidence, rather than their prejudices. It is inconvenient, I know, but the rule of law means that there is one standard for everyone, even the people one doesn’t like.

Moreover, it is also the case that sometimes (as Freud would put it) a cigar is just a cigar - and that an accident is just an accident. It is not always necessary to allocate blame for something to be resolved. Speaking as someone who has lost a close relative in a suicide bombing, I rather wish the police had shot the gentleman before he exploded himself on top of my 15 year old cousin. That is not to say that S De Menezes’ death is an acceptable matter - I am content to abide the verdict on that - merely that the issue of when and when not to intervene is inevitably made under highly charged circumstances in the most difficult of conditions.

Nor is this an “execution”. Perhaps such serious words should be saved until they are apposite? The Prosecution case is cock-up, not conspiracy. Unless, of course, that is part of the conspiracy too? Bet it’s the same people who murdered Diana.

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