British Law 1910: murder trial.

aruna

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Hope someone can help here.

A white English man, planation owner in British Guiana, has shot one of his Indian workers and is pleading self defense, that the worker was armed with a cutlass. But he wasn't.
Unknown to everyone else, the man's daughter (18 years) has witnessed the shooting and she knows the worker was unarmed.

She and her father have seriously fallen out about something else. In fact, he has banished her to Barbados.

Till now she has kept silent, but now she realises that she she should be a witness for the prosecution, that she cannot let her dad get away with murder. Her dad, she has discovered previously, is a very cruel plantation owner and he has already been able to avoid the law after a whipping incident.

She wants to speak out, but realises her dad would probably get the death penalty. Much as she is estranged from him, she did once love him and doesn't want to cause his death.

Would it be possible to somehow arrange with the prosecutor for her to testify, as long as he gets (life?) imprisonment and not death? A kind of plea bargain for the witness? Or, could it be construed as manslaughter, which would not carry a death penalty?

Surely if he was carrying a gun (he doesn't usually) it was premeditated? Or maybe he shot the guy under stress, or thought he was carrying a weapon.

I don't want readers to hate the girl for handing in her father. But she need to hand him in. Maybe he could be sent back to England to sit out the prison sentence, as there is danger that the local prisoners might kill him.
 
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aruna

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Thanks -- that's a good idea, as I could work into it a sort of reconciliation scene; my editor would probably love that.

ETA: and it also lets her off the hook, as she wouldn't have to testify.
 
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aruna

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Your suggestion works well. But now I need her to first discuss this with the prosecutor and make a statement, and then the prosecutor goes and talks to the father to try and persuade him to confess. But the dad wants to speak to his daughter first. They talk and he agrees to confess.
Is that plausible, or would they not be allowed to meet privately?
 

mirandashell

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oooh.... IRL I don't know. But is the father a man of influence at the time? Because if he is, I think you could make the meeting plausible.
 

aruna

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Yes, he is. Part of the ruling class in a British colony. I'll make it happen. Just wanted to know if there was some inviolable law that said that witness for the prosecution can't under any circumstances meet the defendant.
 

Bolero

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Tiny thing - British Law - isn't really. There is English (which covers Wales too) and Scottish. Very similar but not identical. Scotland has retained some of its own legal customs and laws. They have the verdict "not proven" and in buying houses an offer is binding - so you need to have your mortgage in place up front. In England you can back out before exchange. Regarding question on plea bargain, suspect the same but not sure. Assume that law in colonies was English law but.....
 

Shakesbear

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Any reason for choosing 1910? And what time of year? The British public were focused on a murder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawley_Harvey_Crippen which made history! First murderer to be caught because of a telegram thingy. There is possibly a site with more precise dates - the murder was not made 'public' until body parts were found. In all probability the case overshadowed other murders.
Your murderer could be found guilty and sentenced to death - but if he is part of the ruling class he would possibly have his sentence changed to one of imprisonment or be given a free pardon, especially if a petition was started to support him.
 

aruna

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Any reason for choosing 1910? And what time of year? The British public were focused on a murder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawley_Harvey_Crippen which made history! First murderer to be caught because of a telegram thingy. There is possibly a site with more precise dates - the murder was not made 'public' until body parts were found. In all probability the case overshadowed other murders.
Your murderer could be found guilty and sentenced to death - but if he is part of the ruling class he would possibly have his sentence changed to one of imprisonment or be given a free pardon, especially if a petition was started to support him.

The story is set in 2010 -- 2012, but it is in Britsh Guiana, across the ocean, and I am pretty sure they would not have followed a murder case in England, no matter how prolific! Interesting, that there is a telegram connection -- my novel is all about the Morse code, the age of telegrams etc, the laying of the transatlantic cable etc!