Philipsburg:--- The Prosecutor's Office used a strange but very beneficial strategy on Tuesday and Wednesday when they presented the case they have against the suspects that are accused of slaughtering US citizens Michael and Thelma King. It is the first time the Prosecutor's Office chose to present their case in the English language so that the family and friends of the Kings who came from the USA to witness the trial could understand the proceedings. One of the good things about this new strategy is that it worked for SMN News reporter who does not speak the Dutch language. It was also beneficial to the two US reporters who traveled to St. Maarten to cover the trial.
However, it behoves the staff of the court house and the people of St. Maarten to ask the Prosecutor's Office why they never used this strategy in other high profile cases. Their actions on Tuesday and Wednesday showed that the Prosecutors that are working on St. Maarten are multi-lingual and they can speak the English language if they want to in order to benefit the local suspects and families of victims who also suffered the loss of loved ones at the hands of criminals. Almost 90% of the population including elected officials that were prosecuted could not speak the Dutch language fluently, yet the Prosecutor's Office did not even attempt to facilitate the people of the country who are writing out their pay checks every month. Another strange behaviour SMN News reporter noticed is that the presiding Judge made every attempt to ensure that the relatives of the Kings that were present understood the proceedings. The court house is equipped with a legal translator and microphones, but this is the first time that a microphone was assigned to the court translator. On several occasions, Judge Tamara Tyghuis called on the court translator to speak into the microphone so that those sitting the tribune could hear what she was translating when the Judge Tyghuis spoke in Dutch or when the Prosecutors were using the Dutch language to transmit technical terms of the law to the court.
One case in point where the Prosecutor's Office did not make use of this strategy was during the Regatta murder trial where a number of people were killed, one of them was French national. In the eyes of SMN News reporter, the Regatta killings were equally bad for St. Maarten because a number of people that were residing on St. Maarten were killed innocently, yet their relatives did not get preferential treatment, neither did the families of the French nationals that were killed on the Dutch side of the island. As we stated in the beginning of this article, the new strategy is beneficial to St. Maarten and its people, even though it appears as though the Prosecutor's Office made special efforts for the Kings' families because they know they made mistakes that can have fatal consequences even though each of the suspects admitted their roles in the robberies and killing of the Kings.
The constitution of St. Maarten states that the official languages in country St. Maarten are Dutch and English, therefore the new strategy used for the Kings murder trial should be maintained on a daily basis. It will make life much easier for the people of St. Maarten, victims, and suspects alike.
Another point that has to be made is that no one (including reporters) is allowed to use computers or any other digital devices during court proceedings. In December 2012, the Netherlands adopted a new law which was enacted on March 1, 2013 where they will allow all courtroom procedures to be filmed. Cameras and other recording devices can also be used just as it is in the United States. But the Court of First Instance has decided that they will not adopt this new law because for them this is St. Maarten and not the Netherlands.
The world is changing by the day through technology and it is imperative that the lawyers on St. Maarten or the Parliament of St. Maarten take the necessary actions to have the Court of First Instance do whatever is necessary to catch up with the rest of the world. It is no longer acceptable for courtroom cases to remain a public secret and the people of this nation have to depend on some of the twisted reporters who do not report the actual facts of what transpired in the courtroom but choose to write commentaries and opinions on court cases.
The Minister of Justice Roland Duncan is fully aware of the new law in the Netherlands, he has some authority in giving instructions to the people he is paying in the Justice Ministry and it is our hope that the Minister does whatever is in his power to ensure that the people of St. Maarten receive equal and fair treatment when they have to appear before the courts.