The Bail

Description

I wrote this novel based on the experience of Himalman Copchay while he was detained in New Your City Rikers Island jail. Jail liaison Marley gave him a phone number of a Legal Aid Society lawyer. Attorney from the Legal Aid Society never pick up the phone and out right neglected him and he hires a lawyer paying his fees. To his dismay, his paid lawyer wants him to accept a plea deal for the offence he never committed. He finds the paid lawyer worse than the Legal Aid free lawyer. They came into an open conflict. Among other allegations, the prosecutor charged him that his Green Card was fraudulent but his Card was in fact genuine. It was the middle of May and the pandemic was booming. There were no more court dates for detainees to appear in court and they hadn''t started the video court scheduling either. The attitude of the justice system had changed. With no court dates and no appearance in person at court, the danger of practicing obscurantism by the officials became higher leading them to have unilateral freedom to abuse it. Unsurprisingly already endangered rights of speedy trial went to obscurity and the system stood still being devoid of other immediate reliefs for the detainees. They could endlessly be incarcerated attributing everything outright to the pandemic. In this unprecedented time their dependency to their lawyer had been like the dependency of a child to their mother. The lawyers still had access to the court. The responsibility of an attorney has unquestionably increased. That''s why Copchay, going through all arduous paths, had hired the private attorney. However, instead of becoming a zealous attorney for the client, his private attorney for their own interest became the vehicle of the ADA. After six months of suspension, on his first video court date from Rikers Island he confronted the judge, prosecutor and his attorney. He asked the judge passionately to release him. The judge vehemently said "we are not going to release you". He said he wanted to fire his attorney. An inmate called AN or African Nietzsche suggests him to put a complaint against the biased judge at The NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct. Copchay diligently prepares a Complaint and sends it to 61 Broadway in Manhattan. For him it was the war in all fronts. All the player at court were forcing him to accept the plea deal that he would never accept. He maintained that he never committed the alleged crimes. The culture of forcing defendant to plea deal made everyone''s job easier. The lawyer doesn''t have to study for facts and law in the case. The judge doesn''t have to go through the hassle of organizing a trial and the prosecutor would add to their chart to be successful and the private lawyer wouldn''t have to labor for his client. Everybody would stay comfortable. Himalman Copchay knew their tactics and became adamant to go for trial. What Copchay had found was that the plea bargaining has become weaponry for the prosecutors and defense lawyers mimicked with them for their own interest. No-one has to study or do effort to determine the truth. Every player at court could stay at ease. The defendant is the one who will carry the taboo rest of his life. Who cares? The justice system is taken over by peal bargaining. The concept of plea was only for those who were guilty based on evidence, not every suspect is a criminal. Making every suspect taking plea makes their job easier. The judges are free, they don''t have to work. The trial is expensive. What is cheaper is plea bargaining, at whose cost? The defendant. There are hardcore criminals out there, that is true but 96% plea deal out of court room comprises lot of innocents that is also true. In all this wrangling, one year passed. Eventually, all party acknowledged that Copchay''s Green Card was genuine. They couldn''t keep Copchay more than one year for misdemeanor in jail. The judge reluctantly let him go issuing five thousand bail. The case will not end here, it will continue.

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