THE EDITOR; Sir:
ONE COULD objectively accuse your columnist Delroy Chuck of bias and unfairness in his un-masked attempt to blame Government for the intemperate remarks made by SSP Adams on the issue of the "presumption of innocence" (Wednesday July 17, 2002).
Were Mr. Chuck a layman, I would have ignored the stupor. But coming from a lawyer, the public assertion that the sacred rights enjoyed by Jamaicans "are subject to the whims and fancies" of policemen, implies, if not expressly asserts, that the Judges of the Supreme Court have abdicated their duties and responsibilities to "renegade" policemen. In other words, Jamaica is not a functioning democratic state where due process applies.
May I remind Mr. Chuck that SSP Adams is not a criminal lawyer. Frankly, I don't think his misgivings of the presumption of innocence are any more warped than Mr. Chuck's strident condemnation of Police last July, even though, he, Mr. Chuck, was not present and had then not heard from any of the parties involved.
It is not surprising therefore, that Mr. Chuck was unable to make out a coherent case of Government's complicity with the tenor or substance of Reneto Adams' statement.
I am, etc.,
DELFORD G. MORGAN
2 Murray Street
Westmoreland
