Yes, I do; people should be informed clearly of their choices in these cases. It’s much like being told to eat an exotic dish – even if your friend tells you to eat it, you’d have doubts. Unless you know what you’re getting yourself into, you’d probably stick to what’s familiar and what seems viable.
The lack of information leads to a lapse of judgment. This is not justice. Don’t get me wrong, Warrior was wrong not to take the plea deal regardless; especially if, as you say, his attorney advised him to take it. However, this does not detract from the fact that he was uninformed and that this is a grave malady upon what would have been justice. If any of us were in his place, we should all be given the proper information to understand what’s happening. Again, you cannot expect everyone to try an exotic dish without telling them what’s in it first – even a simple dish such as beef stew may be foreign to others, and you cannot fault them for being cautious about it. With the proper information, however, they would undoubtedly feel more at ease about what’s happening. Similarly, we cannot expect everyone to completely understand this legal humdrum – even simple terms such as plea deals. This information asymmetry is, as in this case, is a plight towards fairness and true justice.
Regardless of Warrior’s mistake in declining the plea deal – or, rather, because of his mistake – it’s become even more clear that this information regarding legal procedures has not been properly disseminated; in fact, it may be construed that this information hasn’t been released at all.
You cannot assume everyone knows how the court and the legal system works – not even the basics. Whether they be esteemed LEOs or complete newbies, it is fallacious to assume that people know what you’re talking about. The court should serve the people – it should be fair. This was not fair; Warrior was convicted because he did not have the information required to make a good decision. Regardless of his legal advice – which, I must say, could have presented this to him better – he should have been given the proper information towards this.
It’s tiring to see everyone get riled up over the courts and the DoJ, yes, but think – is it not possible that this is because of the lack of information? This information asymmetry is a malady, yes, but there is a cure – to actually spread information.
Warrior’s case is the perfect example of this. Even with his attorney’s advice, he did not plunge himself into the unknown and hope that a “plea deal” was a good thing – he tried to play it safe, albeit disastrously in this case. If he had the information, he would have been able to make a more educated decision. Unfortunately, this information is not widely available; in the same way I cannot expect everyone to understand what “lockdown B” or “code red” means, you simply cannot expect everyone to understand what legal lingo – stuff like writs of certiorari and mens rea, or even simpler terms such as plea deals and prosecution – means. I don’t suggest making the court toddler-friendly, but I don’t suggest keeping it so vague, either. All I’m asking for is that the DoJ work on informational materials to help people gain information regarding these things – it will help in future cases like these. The fact that people are expected to come into these situations with the full knowledge of what’s happening is disappointing – it is similar to the Miranda v Arizona case, and I believe we know how that went.
Information is a boon to the downtrodden and those who are otherwise under these sorts of predicaments. I have no doubt at all that Warrior – and everyone who shall be attending court and other legal matters in the future – should be properly informed beforehand. We don’t need to give everyone basic, “preschool” education regarding these cases, but we must give everyone a degree of dignity and assistance regarding these things.
This is someone else’s effort and time – in Warrior’s case, it was months of time and effort – that is on the line whenever these cases come through. You might as well try to make these as fair and as just as possible.
