Dear Source:
I felt the need to respond to a letter submitted by Antoine Fontaine of Virginia, on June 18, 2006, criticizing the state of the Judicial System of the Virgin Islands. While his criticism may well be warranted in some aspects, I felt the need to clarify some of his misconceptions. First point of clarification, Castillo has not been sentenced yet. At this point, Castillo has been found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated child abuse by a jury of his peers. The Court will sentence Castillo at a later date. Second, the writer’s assertion that Castillo “will be free after a couple of years” is not entirely accurate. Although the jury found Castillo guilty of voluntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, the jury also found him guilty of aggravated child abuse which carries a maximum penalty of up to 30 years incarceration. Furthermore, because of his past convictions, Castillo may also be appropriately sentenced under the habitual offender statute. If the Defendant is found to be eligible for sentencing under this statute, it would increase the number of years that he may be incarcerated. But, the burden is on the People to establish that the Defendant meets all the criteria to be sentenced under the statute. With all those factors in play, Castillo still faces a significant amount of jail time for his crime.
And finally, contrary to Mr. Fontaine’s statement, Castillo was charged with murder. The Judge does not have the responsibility of charging the Defendant with a crime, the Government (the People) do, and in this case the People charged Castillo with premeditated murder, otherwise known as First Degree Murder. Likewise, it is the Government’s responsibility to meet the burden of proving the particular legal elements of the criminal acts they charge. However, there are instances where the court may find that, during the course of the trial, the People have not presented enough evidence to support a charge. When this occurs, the court may, once the defendant makes the proper request and argument, dismiss the charge against the Defendant. This is what happened in this case. The Judge found that the People did not present enough evidence to support a charge of premeditated murder and dismissed that charge. However, the charge of second degree murder still remained on the table. The jury (not the judge) found that the Defendant was not guilty of second degree murder, but guilty of voluntary manslaughter.
Many people erroneously mischaracterize the Judge’s role in a jury trial. During a jury trial, the judge’s function is to act as a referee, in order to ensure that the proceedings and both sides comply with the letter of the law. The Judge does not decide guilt or innocence in a jury trial; that is the function of the jury. Although I understand that Mr. Fontaine is frustrated with the outcome of the Castillo case, I think that his frustrations are misguided.
Christine Norman
St. Thomas
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