Part Six
Sir Ian Rochester looked out of the window of his spacious Whitehall office wondering why fate had such a nasty sense of irony and playing jokes at his expense. His role in life was in smoothing out awkward areas in the relationship between the administration of the Lord Chancellor's Department and the proud, bewigged judges whom from time immemorial were free to run their courts the way they saw fit. It took certain bonhomie in being able to tactfully remind the odd judge who got the bit between his teeth and sound off in ways that caused political embarrassment. OK to say these things in the Carlton Club when it was known no one would talk, after all, they all went to Oxford together didn't they? With his combined gifts of ever so gentle threat, a velvet glove worn over an iron hand, and his alternative guise of upmarket used car dealer, he had been effortlessly carried up the promotion ladder. Until, one unkind joke was perpetrated on him, John Deed, who some fool appointed as a circuit judge and became a constant thorn in his side. First time Deed greeted him, he smiled at him but with that look of mockery in his eyes and said something about sitting down over a glass of port and reminiscing about our schooldays, 'the happiest days in our lives.' The fellow went to Oxford too, but the obstinate fellow was a renegade and didn't play the game.
Another very bad joke was the court case of the Crown versus Pilkinton / Atkins.
When he'd heard this one originally, this was an open and shut case that he was sure would never come his way. This common English tart had gone to Hollywood and gone native. She was picked up by the police in Florida where she lived after murdering a photographer. The report said she stabbed him 17 times after getting into an argument. She's sneaked out in disguise right under the noses of the local gun toting American police and caught the next flight home to England. She'd tried to walk through customs in England carrying a large volume of cocaine, enough to put her well into the league of drug smuggling. What caused his blood pressure to rise was that she'd walked through American customs and she had got clean away with it. The officious clods in the police force clapped her into the nearest secure prison which had a space, a place called Larkhall till she could get tried for drug smuggling.
Now our American cousins, with all their gun laws and tough talk now started bleating to us that they wanted the bloody woman tried in Florida for the murder over there. As far as he was concerned, it was quite simple. Their crime was bigger than ours, the woman who called herself Snowball Merriman wants to be an American so she might as well
face justice over there and get her out of our hair.
He thought it such a cut and dried case that the extradition hearing was farmed out to the first judge that took an interest in it. After all the sentence that that Pilkinton woman now serving for smuggling is nothing compared to the murder charge she faces back in Florida…nor the death sentence that almost certainly comes with it. The whole matter went out of his mind while he had other things to do until a copy of the court judgement popped up in his in tray which he casually opened.
Application by the Federal State of Florida, USA for Tracy Pilkinton to be extradited to Florida to be charged for the offence of first degree murder.
At Holborn Crown Court hearing on October 18th 2002, the application for extradition was rejected until the expiry of the custodial sentence in the United Kingdom for smuggling a Class 'A' drug with the intent to supply.
It was held that
The sentence of Tracy Pilkinton on August 7th 2002 was rightfully determined on the charge of unlawfully smuggling in a kilo of cocaine with the intent to supply.
That Tracy Pilkinton should serve the term of imprisonment at Her Majesties Prison for seven years following the sentence
(3) That, on the expiry of this sentence, a fresh application to extradite Tracy Pilkinton
should be submitted by the Federal State of Florida before a freshly constituted court
to determine whether or not Miss Pilkinton is to be brought before the Federal Court
of Florida for the charge of murder of Wayne Kramer, a photographer of the state of
Florida.
Sir Ian skipped through the statement of facts of the double crime until his eye stopped at the relevant paragraphs.
11……………It did not help the case of the Federal State of Florida that the application for extradition was not made contemporaneously, in contravention of international law of which the Plaintiff should have been made well aware. However this is a relative side issue to the matter upon which I must decide……..
12……….The question at the heart of the matter is that Tracy Pilkinton is charged with capital murder in the state of Florida and has been convicted of intent to supply Class A drugs in England. Both events, or alleged events, took place within a matter of hours on the same day in question. The question I have to consider is whether or not both unrelated charges which had they been pursued simultaneously at the same court hearing would have had the result of concurrent or consecutive sentences if Tracy Pilkinton were found guilty on both counts. The judgement by Lord Denning which I find most persuasive is that the sentences would have been consecutive on the grounds that the sentence for the lesser charge would have been otherwise "overlapped" by the sentence for the greater charge. The fact is that, in actual point of fact, the second charge was never put at the court hearing which determined the first charge, is all the more persuasive. I am mindful that the judicial sentence for the charge of murder in Florida can attract the death penalty by electrocution but this matter, for the reasons I have set out in this judgement, is a matter of degree rather than that of principle.
14………..I am mindful of the difficulties I have placed before the Court in the Federal State of Florida in appearing to place an embargo on proceedings against Tracy Pilkington for the charge which there is every expectation that should be pursued. This judgement should not be misconstrued as a legal precedent or test case that a British Citizen can escape the consequences of charges made by another country for crimes which that citizen has committed in that country. It is a matter of international law that the weight and value of evidence should not be diminished by the passage of time in this particular type of case and that so long as the evidence is suitably compiled, including witness statements, then justice for the second charge will be done and be seen to be done, albeit the execution of the justice will be deferred.
Judge Michael Niven October 18th 2002
"Bad news, Sir Ian." Lawrence James broke into his thoughts which, judging by the scowl on his face, was hardly an intuitive leap of the imagination. Sir Ian could have sworn that the light reflecting off his grey shiny suit alerted him to Lawrence James presence fractionally before his loud voice did.
"The worst, Lawrence." Sir Ian's weak angry tones replied."Of all the cases which ought never to have ended up this way, it's that Americanised woman Tracy Pilkinton that Niven was weak-minded enough not to have thrown over to the Americans to deal with and save this Department a lot of trouble. Now the British Taxpayer has to foot the bill, and all the time and trouble also."
"You mean us." Lawrence James cut to the chase or Sir Ian would have waffled on all day.
"That's what I mean, obviously," Sir Ian squinted wondering why Lawrence James hadn't learnt the knack for smoothing out rough edges.
"It isn't too late is it, depending on which judge gets it. He might think it was unsafe to proceed with the trial of fresh charges that, obviously, Niven was unaware of."
"God hopes so, anyway."
"So long as Deed doesn't play God. That would be very unfortunate. Very unfortunate indeed." Sir Ian savoured the last words slowly though exactly unfortunate for whom, Sir Ian in his oblique way never made clear.
Sir Ian Rochester looked out of the window of his spacious Whitehall office wondering why fate had such a nasty sense of irony and playing jokes at his expense. His role in life was in smoothing out awkward areas in the relationship between the administration of the Lord Chancellor's Department and the proud, bewigged judges whom from time immemorial were free to run their courts the way they saw fit. It took certain bonhomie in being able to tactfully remind the odd judge who got the bit between his teeth and sound off in ways that caused political embarrassment. OK to say these things in the Carlton Club when it was known no one would talk, after all, they all went to Oxford together didn't they? With his combined gifts of ever so gentle threat, a velvet glove worn over an iron hand, and his alternative guise of upmarket used car dealer, he had been effortlessly carried up the promotion ladder. Until, one unkind joke was perpetrated on him, John Deed, who some fool appointed as a circuit judge and became a constant thorn in his side. First time Deed greeted him, he smiled at him but with that look of mockery in his eyes and said something about sitting down over a glass of port and reminiscing about our schooldays, 'the happiest days in our lives.' The fellow went to Oxford too, but the obstinate fellow was a renegade and didn't play the game.
Another very bad joke was the court case of the Crown versus Pilkinton / Atkins.
When he'd heard this one originally, this was an open and shut case that he was sure would never come his way. This common English tart had gone to Hollywood and gone native. She was picked up by the police in Florida where she lived after murdering a photographer. The report said she stabbed him 17 times after getting into an argument. She's sneaked out in disguise right under the noses of the local gun toting American police and caught the next flight home to England. She'd tried to walk through customs in England carrying a large volume of cocaine, enough to put her well into the league of drug smuggling. What caused his blood pressure to rise was that she'd walked through American customs and she had got clean away with it. The officious clods in the police force clapped her into the nearest secure prison which had a space, a place called Larkhall till she could get tried for drug smuggling.
Now our American cousins, with all their gun laws and tough talk now started bleating to us that they wanted the bloody woman tried in Florida for the murder over there. As far as he was concerned, it was quite simple. Their crime was bigger than ours, the woman who called herself Snowball Merriman wants to be an American so she might as well
face justice over there and get her out of our hair.
He thought it such a cut and dried case that the extradition hearing was farmed out to the first judge that took an interest in it. After all the sentence that that Pilkinton woman now serving for smuggling is nothing compared to the murder charge she faces back in Florida…nor the death sentence that almost certainly comes with it. The whole matter went out of his mind while he had other things to do until a copy of the court judgement popped up in his in tray which he casually opened.
Application by the Federal State of Florida, USA for Tracy Pilkinton to be extradited to Florida to be charged for the offence of first degree murder.
At Holborn Crown Court hearing on October 18th 2002, the application for extradition was rejected until the expiry of the custodial sentence in the United Kingdom for smuggling a Class 'A' drug with the intent to supply.
It was held that
The sentence of Tracy Pilkinton on August 7th 2002 was rightfully determined on the charge of unlawfully smuggling in a kilo of cocaine with the intent to supply.
That Tracy Pilkinton should serve the term of imprisonment at Her Majesties Prison for seven years following the sentence
(3) That, on the expiry of this sentence, a fresh application to extradite Tracy Pilkinton
should be submitted by the Federal State of Florida before a freshly constituted court
to determine whether or not Miss Pilkinton is to be brought before the Federal Court
of Florida for the charge of murder of Wayne Kramer, a photographer of the state of
Florida.
Sir Ian skipped through the statement of facts of the double crime until his eye stopped at the relevant paragraphs.
11……………It did not help the case of the Federal State of Florida that the application for extradition was not made contemporaneously, in contravention of international law of which the Plaintiff should have been made well aware. However this is a relative side issue to the matter upon which I must decide……..
12……….The question at the heart of the matter is that Tracy Pilkinton is charged with capital murder in the state of Florida and has been convicted of intent to supply Class A drugs in England. Both events, or alleged events, took place within a matter of hours on the same day in question. The question I have to consider is whether or not both unrelated charges which had they been pursued simultaneously at the same court hearing would have had the result of concurrent or consecutive sentences if Tracy Pilkinton were found guilty on both counts. The judgement by Lord Denning which I find most persuasive is that the sentences would have been consecutive on the grounds that the sentence for the lesser charge would have been otherwise "overlapped" by the sentence for the greater charge. The fact is that, in actual point of fact, the second charge was never put at the court hearing which determined the first charge, is all the more persuasive. I am mindful that the judicial sentence for the charge of murder in Florida can attract the death penalty by electrocution but this matter, for the reasons I have set out in this judgement, is a matter of degree rather than that of principle.
14………..I am mindful of the difficulties I have placed before the Court in the Federal State of Florida in appearing to place an embargo on proceedings against Tracy Pilkington for the charge which there is every expectation that should be pursued. This judgement should not be misconstrued as a legal precedent or test case that a British Citizen can escape the consequences of charges made by another country for crimes which that citizen has committed in that country. It is a matter of international law that the weight and value of evidence should not be diminished by the passage of time in this particular type of case and that so long as the evidence is suitably compiled, including witness statements, then justice for the second charge will be done and be seen to be done, albeit the execution of the justice will be deferred.
Judge Michael Niven October 18th 2002
"Bad news, Sir Ian." Lawrence James broke into his thoughts which, judging by the scowl on his face, was hardly an intuitive leap of the imagination. Sir Ian could have sworn that the light reflecting off his grey shiny suit alerted him to Lawrence James presence fractionally before his loud voice did.
"The worst, Lawrence." Sir Ian's weak angry tones replied."Of all the cases which ought never to have ended up this way, it's that Americanised woman Tracy Pilkinton that Niven was weak-minded enough not to have thrown over to the Americans to deal with and save this Department a lot of trouble. Now the British Taxpayer has to foot the bill, and all the time and trouble also."
"You mean us." Lawrence James cut to the chase or Sir Ian would have waffled on all day.
"That's what I mean, obviously," Sir Ian squinted wondering why Lawrence James hadn't learnt the knack for smoothing out rough edges.
"It isn't too late is it, depending on which judge gets it. He might think it was unsafe to proceed with the trial of fresh charges that, obviously, Niven was unaware of."
"God hopes so, anyway."
"So long as Deed doesn't play God. That would be very unfortunate. Very unfortunate indeed." Sir Ian savoured the last words slowly though exactly unfortunate for whom, Sir Ian in his oblique way never made clear.