On the 10th July, after having read over the appeal case and handing it back to the Attorney, I was introduced to two other interns as we prepared to go to court. One of the interns was writing a case summary about an insane (though not medically diagnosed) murderer, going around Antigua and killing ‘vagrants’, before sucking their blood, apparently instructed to do so by the ‘voices in his head’. Hearing this astounded me; it definitely felt like I was in a horror film! As we continued laughing both in humour and shock at the accused’s statements, time was treading on, and it was time to attend court.
I had briefly been told the premise of this case, that it was a fraud case and was to do with money laundering and embezzlement, though I was not made aware of the exact details. When arriving in court, several aspects stood out to me that contrasted with the courts I had experienced in England (Slough Magistrate’s Court and the Old Bailey). Immediately, I felt there to be a more casual atmosphere, with a lack of security. I was able to walk in with my phone in hand; contrary to the security checks present both at a low-level court and the more severe ones in the Crown Court where no devices are allowed, that I had witnessed prior. Unlike the English and Welsh courts there were no wigs involved, though I have since attributed this to the similarities the Antiguan courts share with those in America.
The overall atmosphere of the court was less tense, not just amongst my peers but also among the attorneys and judge. After analysing both this and the overall attitude of Antiguan people, I have concluded that it is perhaps due to the ingrained Christian belief amongst the people. The Golden Commandment to ‘love thy neighbour’ seems to be inherent throughout this beautiful country, one that seems lacking in the continually more secular England. This belief has been honed in to the people here, alluding to the overall lesser severity of crimes. In particular, the Defence Attorney’s theatrical dramatics had everyone stifling their laughter, as well as his irrelevant and unconnected questions towards witnesses, that even had the judge asking who was at trial here. At points the trial did become rather tedious, with witnesses simply reading out interviews word for word, but such is necessary to have on record. After adjourning till the next day, I went back to the ministry, where I was handed a couple of questions to do research upon by the Attorney, in relation to the appeal case I had previously read.
This involved the offence of perverting the course of justice; one that I had not previously been educated in. Researching this was definitely interesting and compelling, especially when identifying certain aspects that pertained to the actual case.
