DPP having a drought with convictions
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) appears to be struggling in its attempts at achieving convictions in recent times.
This was the view expressed by a former Chief Inspector of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF), Vere Browne, when he spoke at a community meeting in Sea Cows Bay last evening, February 16.
The meeting, called by Third District Representative Julian Fraser, gave residents the opportunity to raise a plethora of issues affecting the territory.
Among other things, Brown spoke about issues related to a recent murder in the community and the National Security Council’s (NSC) response of a reward of $20,000 for the arrest and successful prosecution of the offender/s.
Prosecuting is more than a degree
Browne argued that residents have a civic duty to assist the police in solving and preventing crimes and suggested that the issue of prosecution was being conflated in the issuing of a reward.
“You go to your police and you say, it’s John Doe, and they go, they find the guns and the bloody clothes. You have executed your role,” Browne explained. “So the commissioner or the officer in charge sits down with you, fills out the paper, sends it down to the Accountant General and you get your money within the month.”
He continued: “This successful prosecution is a different thing. The DPP’s office with his or her legal team – and as the record shows, they’re having a real drought with convictions – I don’t want to go too deep into that.”
Browne charged that more emphasis needed to be placed on the territory’s prosecutors and suggested that this is where law enforcement is falling down.
The former Chief Inspector further argued that prosecution is a skill that has to be learned and hinted that there was too much faith being placed in the possession of a university degree over at the DPP’s Office.
Browne added: “The police get all this evidence … and you go and you present it, and at the end of the prosecution, the jury says, not guilty. You can’t blame the police, the investigator, or the witness. We have a challenge and we’re just closing our eyes because… they appear to come from a university.”
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THEM LESS!
The picture there says it all. The “O” is still missing from GOVERNMENT. No wonder the DPP can’t BINGO.
Cant win a case
A lot more pressing matters presented here but they should get that sign fixed probably
If they stop trying to frame people both POLICE AND DPP they will continue losing
The current DPP has poor legal skills, terrible judgment, and extraordinary self importance. Jurors know that she does not know what she is doing.
Sir, did you attend a university? I ask because you seem to have a challenge with university grads. If you think they are doing so badly at the DPP’s office now, try and imagine how much worse it would be if persons were just dragged off the streets and asked to prosecute accused persons.
I am listening.
That’s because they continue to lay ridiculous charges against people without proper examination. It is like persecution instead of prosecution. I would like to see how much the government has had to pay out for malicious prosecutions.
this is the first time since it’s inception that the DPP’s office seems to be beyond incompetent. The incompetence is beginning to lead to vigilante justice. The government and the governor acting as if they are blind deaf and dumb on this matter. I do not know the current DPP or any of the staff and feel no malice towards them but the office needs new staffing. At this point you can kill someone in broad daylight with several witnesses and they still can’t get a conviction. Too many criminals walking free and no justice in this place
CORRUPTION ) , why are some of us acting like we are so HOLY, when we fully know from the BIG dude in MIAMI right down , and there are Those who love bury their heads in their boTtOm and still cannot smell the stench
Please do your homework and u will be surprised by the knowledge Mr. Brown has.
She only seems to go to Court for uncontested directions hearings where there is no chance that she will lose – she sends more junior lawyers for everything else (having reviewed the file and advised there are good prospect is success). However the Judges (all
of them) continually find that there is no case to answer and don’t let the trials go beyond half time. This reinforces your point about her legal skills and judgment.
The police cannot protect me when I call them for my own matters. They going protect me when I involve myself in others ‘matters? Strupes. Sort out the incompetent police. There needs to be a proper and independent complaints procedure to report incompetent officers. Real steps need to be taken to correct and punish them for failing to serve and protect and for failing to be honest and unbiased. That is the only way to clean up this mess. That is the only way to gain the confidence of the public. The problem is the police first then the incompetent DPP next. These fall under the governor so start with the problematic head to fix the problematic body. The governor is failing at addressing the issue of national security. Inquire about THAT!
Our DPP is definitely garbage… This need looking into asap.
Maybe everybody is innocent in the BVI!
A drought you say? That’s the understatement of the century.
I am of the view that the DPP is being influenced by the Governor and those UK police officers especially as a result of this COI. All these UK officers that are here are trying to justify their existence by arresting left right and center with no plausible reason in law to do so. The law suits will start to pile up. If something isn’t done the tax payers will bear the burden.
Graduating from any law school with a law degree does not make that person a prosecuting attorney. A competent prosecutor needs at lease 10 years of experience as an understudy to a lead prosecutor before acting for the government alone. It seems none of the DPP’s staff of prosecutors have enough experience to secure a conviction in a criminal trial before a jury.
We will be issuing a press release explaining why the DPP is the best, reminding everybody that she does not report to anybody, and warning that this sort of article may result in criminal proceedings (which won’t obviously end in a conviction but that is hardly the point).
Be so guided and conduct yourselves accordingly.
how much DID you squander when it was your play pen ,? even even the coach had to call time OUT with Mark ( aka ) trump case / and the crooked trini moonwalked outa here with a couple thousands of taxpayers money ? ?
Drought,- lack of winning, failure to succeed….A bad curse….What away do describe the office of the DPP.
Was this the reason he resigned as CoP in his homeland….or was he sacked?
Just asking.
Import a DPP or a few from the UK and she can become an understudy while gaining experience.
The cases and the slew of crimes created by the onslaught of foreign drift requires a strong stomach, and a seasoned DPP or two.
You wanted a local and you got a local. Deal with it.
We all countin on it.
They had one of the best dpp (Terrence Williams) but they did not keep him because they felt that a local should get the post.
Arrested the wrong man in Frandie boat accident, he will go free, just saying.
Wow. This is your point after reading this article? Please tell us where you get your degree so we know where to avoid. Or, apply a little common sense. Thank you.
TORTOLA
LOVE IT
OR
LEAVE
IT
The Governor should appoint a Special Prosecutor with a team of legal experts- a savvy and through professional to prosecute special cases and take the load off the DPP until her office is ready
We can’t even repair a sign on a government building. Useless. Absolutely useless.
Forget about convictions. They don’t even prosecute belongers. But if a down islander gets caught, they throw the book at them!
The sign is broken like the roads, entire System and Government, sadly.
That’s why street justice is important. Point in case is his departed son V B Jr.
There is O in government because they smile like a donut
Well siad Mr. BROWNE. THAT DEPARTMENTS NEEDS TO BE SERIOUSLY LOOK AT IF U ASK ME.
That’s why they sending innocent ppl jail cause they do t want to snitch instead of them and police doing their jobs!!!! They just figure it’s better to violate ppl human rights!!!!
At prosecution?….You know that’s a lie straight from H**l.
I would wager that one large issue is professionalism within the RVIPF. It is hard to build a solid case with poor evidence and if the investigating officers bundle their way through an investigation, it doesn’t matter how good the dpp is at getting prosecutions over the line, no judge is passing sentence on the back of scant evidence.
Clearly you don’t know who Vere Browne is, last time i check he had a Masters in Law and a highly decorated and experienced in law enforcement
How hard is it to buy an O to fix that sign buddy? It’s been like that for years now. And it’s not the only place I’ve seen like that. But it speaks to our sloppy and unprofessional nature as a country.
The DPP is legally Incompetent
You can research this name and understand the person behind the statement. Then you might want to change your approach.