For 3 Years After Killing, Evidence Fades as a Suspect Sits in Jail

They brought him into the Bronx courtroom late on that first day of the trial, his prisoner’s chains jingling.

But Chad Hooks, 23 years old and charged with murder, was used to waiting. He had been waiting for three years, seven months and three days at Rikers Island for a trial that never seemed to come.

“I hear the same excuse every time: ‘Not ready,’ or, ‘We’re doing something that’s more important,’ ” he had said at the jail. “I feel like I’ll die here.”

Melissa Lawyer had waited, too. Mr. Hooks was charged with shooting to death her 21-year-old son, Jevon, in a grimy hallway on Southern Boulevard near Hunts Point Avenue in the Bronx. For nearly four years, her hopes for justice had been choked by gnawing worry.

She had had nightmares in which Mr. Hooks was chasing her. She said it meant he would get away with murder.

This little-noticed case at the Bronx County Hall of Justice became a parable of the way delays infect trials with murkiness, mocking the very idea that courts do their best, when it matters most, to find out what really happened.

As the years passed, memories turned hazy. Detectives retired. One witness recanted. Two were lost and then found again. By the time the prosecutors said they were ready for trial on a September day in 2012, a fourth witness — the star witness — had been shot to death in the Bronx. What were left were contradicting claims and missing answers.

Sometimes it seemed that the lawyers and judges had forgotten about clocks altogether.

The defense said Mr. Hooks was an innocent man who had been tormented to the point of ruin by his wait for justice. The prosecution suggested he was a wily killer using the passage of time to silence the witnesses against him.

In other parts of the country, this case might be old enough to raise questions about whether the Constitution’s promise of a speedy trial had any meaning at all. But this was far from the oldest case in the Bronx, where court delays have compounded for decades, mounting a crisis severe enough to challenge the basic notion of justice.

But now, finally, in that courtroom on 161st Street, the assistant district attorney, April Cohen, rose. There was an expectant rustle in the mostly empty courtroom.

Chad Hooks’s mother listened on one side. Jevon Lawyer’s mother on the other.

The prosecutor’s first words, however, were not about the killing of Mr. Lawyer. They were a request for days off. She had three scheduled. And then she would need a day when her nephew was born and then a day to celebrate the birth.

The judge said he was confused about why a trial had to be put off because someone else was having a baby. “Maybe I’m missing something?” he asked, though eventually the prosecutor ended up getting the time off.

That first day of the trial was the 1,311th day of waiting for Mr. Hooks’s day in court. 

Source  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/nyregion/justice-denied-after-a-murder-in-the-bronx-a-sentence-to-wait.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Blindsided: The exoneration of Brian Banks

The news at CBS--or any other outlet--isn't supposed to be your personal PR machine. Bringing attention to the damaged lives that too many people have experienced because they were wrongly (rape victim misidentifies their attacker) or falsely (the accuser was never raped and are saying they were) accused is just as important as bringing attention to the damaged lives people experience because they've been sexually assaulted.

If rape is such a horrible crime that the innocent victim deserves anonymity because of the vile nature of the crime, so too does the person actually being accused of committing the crime. If the stigma attached to the crime is so overwhelming as to make the victim a pariah, how much worse is the stigma (and rightfully so) for the person responsible for the crime? Once the accusation is made the name of the accused is forever tied to the accusation, and for far too many people the accusation only is enough to confirm guilt. Even after the accused has been acquitted, the spectre of the accusation haunts them for the rest of their lives. The accused and the accuser should remain anonymous until a guilty verdict is handed down and appeals are exhausted.

It's better that ten guilty men walk free than it is for one innocent man to be sent to jail (or worse)--or so it is said about justice in the western world. Unfortunately there are too many who would lower the burden of proof and deny the accused their right to a fair trial where they must be found "not guilty" if their guilt cannot be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The internet is chock full of stories about men like Brian Banks who have been exonerated at a later date either by a new examination of physical evidence or by their accuser recanting their story.

Ours is not a society that in any way condones rape, despite what those who coin terms like "rape culture" would have you believe. The backlash against the city of Steubenville and its local school football team over recent rape allegations there is evidence that the vast majority of people in this country were/are deeply concerned with the consequences for the victim and want alleged abusers handled quickly and as severely as possible.

Source  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50143485n

Innocent and locked up

When musician Bill Dillon takes to the stage Wednesday in the Genome Sciences Building for the distinguished speaker series on innocence, justice and the death penalty, he will share his story of the wrongful conviction that kept him locked up in a Florida prison for 27 years of his life.

His story of wrongful conviction and serving years of time for a crime he did not commit is all too common.

The Innocence Project, an organization that works to free wrongfully convicted prisoners through DNA testing, made Dillon’s exoneration possible.

And in North Carolina, organizations like the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence coordinate with law schools around the state to help prisoners appeal their convictions.

Since its inception in 1992, the Innocence Project and organizations like it have cleared the names, reputations and records of 302 prisoners.

Nearly 200 of those prisoners were African-American.

Amnesty International reports that in cases in which the victim is white, African-American defendants receive the death penalty at three times the rate of white defendants.

According to the Equal Justice Institute, studies of jury selection processes in eight Southern states found that racial discrimination in jury selection still runs rampant in the South. And a study by the N.C. American Civil Liberties Union found that 40 percent of the defendants on death row in North Carolina were sentenced to die by juries with only one or no people of color.

The racial inequities that exist within not only the North Carolina justice system but also across the nation are plainly horrifying.

Jury trials and sentencing are based on the idealistic notion that the participants in the process hold no prejudices or biases. But based on numerous research studies, that idea is anything but realistic. The current system allows for racial disparities to occur and disregards the significant role race plays in jury selection and sentencing.

North Carolina aimed to redress racial discrimination in the state’s justice system in 2009 with the Racial Justice Act.

The act allows for the presentation of evidence that could prove that race was a significant factor in imposing the death penalty. If race is found to be a significant factor in sentencing, the defendant is resentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

The effectiveness of the act has been threatened by a 2012 revision to the act which limited the sort of data that would be admissible as proof of racial bias or discrimination.

The revision has essentially watered down the act’s intent by deeming statistical data about racial bias or the race of the victim insufficient in proving that race played a role in sentencing.

Acknowledgement of the racial disparity that exists in the North Carolina justice system is the starting point of a journey to correct a broken system.

Source  http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2013/02/innocent-and-locked-up

Exposing Child Predators Without Defaming the Innocent

One Orthodox Jewish website exposes people accused of sex crimes against children, such as rape, even when no criminal charges have been filed. They do this in an effort to prevent sex offenders from evading the law by virtue of the statute of limitations, to fight years of institutional sex abuse cover-ups, to empower victims and to inform the public of potential dangers.

But is there a risk that an innocent person will be exposed in the fight to bring justice to victims?

Under its “Wall of Shame” Jewish Community Watch (JCW) lists convicted sex offenders, accused offenders with pending charges and others who have not been arrested and have had no formal charges filed against them. Thirty-two individuals are on the registry. JCW conducts its own investigations, including interviewing accusers, before listing un-arrested individuals on its “Wall of Shame.”

Last month, on the day Nechemya Weberman was convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a girl he was supposed to be mentoring, the Brooklyn DA office presented an award of excellence to JCW, praising the organizations efforts of exposing child predators and assisting survivors in recovery. DA Hynes remarked that JCW’s work “has been instrumental” in creating change in the tight-knit Hasidic community.

JCW’s work marks major progress in the Orthodox worlds willingness to openly confront sexual abuse. Since JCW’s inception in 2011, the Brooklyn Orthodox community has seen as many sexual abuse-related arrests and reports as there have been in the past 20 years.

There is a need to inform the public of suspected sex offenders and empower victims on the one hand but also a need to ensure that innocent people aren’t wrongly exposed. How do you balance those two interests when un-arrested individuals are accused of sex crimes? When there is a public record, such as an arrest or conviction, there is no issue with reporting that information, but what happens when there is no public record of the alleged crime?

JCW’s published criteria for deciding whether to put up un-arrested individuals on the “Wall of Shame” is vague and evasive. Under the “Our Criteria” section, they don’t list actual criteria but instead argue that “listing our criteria would make it far easier for false allegations to be made” and “would enable said child molester to ensure that he or she did not meet any of those criterions.”

Shrouding their criteria in a veil of secrecy needs reconsideration. The lack of clear guidelines and transparency diminishes the organization’s credibility, exposes them to further legal liability, and feeds into fears of a witch-hunt mentality. If processes are not revealed for fear that alleged offenders may outsmart the system, at least all supporting documentation should be disclosed in an open and apparent manner.

The media often publishes accusations of un-arrested individuals but the stories are adversarial in nature, present all the facts, and usually give the accused an opportunity to respond. But even the media gets it wrong sometimes as they did in the high-profile Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Greg Kelly cases where the allegations of rape were ultimately dropped, but the journalistic process still minimizes the risk of error.

JCW certainly has a right to exercise their freedom of speech and the press when it comes to informing the community about abuse. They have demonstrated a commitment to protecting children in the Jewish community and have given a voice to the voiceless victims of sex abuse. Ultimately, someone wrongly accused can always resort to a defamation claim, but considering the tight-knit nature of the community, that person’s reputation would be tarnished forever. Extreme caution needs to be taken before publicizing alleged offenders.

Perhaps JCW should adopt a more journalistic approach where for example they publish statements by the therapist of a survivor, detailing how their patient is a victim of sexual abuse and why they believe the person accused is the one responsible for their trauma (of course with the patients approval).

Only report individuals that have multiple independent victims corroborating the allegations of abuse, which JCW implies that it does.

Publish detailed accounts of the allegations from all of the accusers.

They should even give the alleged offender an opportunity to issue a published statement responding to the accusations, so the public is able to better judge a claim and the accused has a chance to publicly respond. They should clearly state that the accused is presumed innocent unless convicted.

JCW protecting the identity of the victims is a good policy but at the same time they need to provide more information to the public. Maintaining the anonymity of an accuser is vital in protecting them from retaliation, intimidation and threats. The media and courts often maintain victim anonymity in sensitive sexual assault cases, especially those involving minors.

Of course the most error free approach would be to only publish information that is already a matter of public record, such as adjudicated sex offenders, arrests and public investigations. But this approach would give free reign to the countless sex offenders that have evaded the statute of limitations.

There is no easy answer in the quest to balance the need to inform the public of potential danger with ensuring the innocent are not defamed in the zealous pursuit of justice, but a high standard of journalistic integrity should be required before someone is publicly outed as a sex offender.

Eliyahu Federman has written extensively on subjects ranging for sexual abuse awareness, gender equality and improving police-community relations. He graduated law school in NY, where he served as an executive editor of law review.

One Orthodox Jewish website exposes people accused of sex crimes against children, such as rape, even when no criminal charges have been filed. They do this in an effort to prevent sex offenders from evading the law by virtue of the statute of limitations, to fight years of institutional sex abuse cover-ups, to empower victims and to inform the public of potential dangers.

But is there a risk that an innocent person will be exposed in the fight to bring justice to victims?

Under its “Wall of Shame” Jewish Community Watch (JCW) lists convicted sex offenders, accused offenders with pending charges and others who have not been arrested and have had no formal charges filed against them. Thirty-two individuals are on the registry. JCW conducts its own investigations, including interviewing accusers, before listing un-arrested individuals on its “Wall of Shame.”

Last month, on the day Nechemya Weberman was convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a girl he was supposed to be mentoring, the Brooklyn DA office presented an award of excellence to JCW, praising the organizations efforts of exposing child predators and assisting survivors in recovery. DA Hynes remarked that JCW’s work “has been instrumental” in creating change in the tight-knit Hasidic community.

JCW’s work marks major progress in the Orthodox worlds willingness to openly confront sexual abuse. Since JCW’s inception in 2011, the Brooklyn Orthodox community has seen as many sexual abuse-related arrests and reports as there have been in the past 20 years.

There is a need to inform the public of suspected sex offenders and empower victims on the one hand but also a need to ensure that innocent people aren’t wrongly exposed. How do you balance those two interests when un-arrested individuals are accused of sex crimes? When there is a public record, such as an arrest or conviction, there is no issue with reporting that information, but what happens when there is no public record of the alleged crime?

JCW’s published criteria for deciding whether to put up un-arrested individuals on the “Wall of Shame” is vague and evasive. Under the “Our Criteria” section, they don’t list actual criteria but instead argue that “listing our criteria would make it far easier for false allegations to be made” and “would enable said child molester to ensure that he or she did not meet any of those criterions.”

Shrouding their criteria in a veil of secrecy needs reconsideration. The lack of clear guidelines and transparency diminishes the organization’s credibility, exposes them to further legal liability, and feeds into fears of a witch-hunt mentality. If processes are not revealed for fear that alleged offenders may outsmart the system, at least all supporting documentation should be disclosed in an open and apparent manner.

The media often publishes accusations of un-arrested individuals but the stories are adversarial in nature, present all the facts, and usually give the accused an opportunity to respond. But even the media gets it wrong sometimes as they did in the high-profile Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Greg Kelly cases where the allegations of rape were ultimately dropped, but the journalistic process still minimizes the risk of error.

JCW certainly has a right to exercise their freedom of speech and the press when it comes to informing the community about abuse. They have demonstrated a commitment to protecting children in the Jewish community and have given a voice to the voiceless victims of sex abuse. Ultimately, someone wrongly accused can always resort to a defamation claim, but considering the tight-knit nature of the community, that person’s reputation would be tarnished forever. Extreme caution needs to be taken before publicizing alleged offenders.

Perhaps JCW should adopt a more journalistic approach where for example they publish statements by the therapist of a survivor, detailing how their patient is a victim of sexual abuse and why they believe the person accused is the one responsible for their trauma (of course with the patients approval).

Only report individuals that have multiple independent victims corroborating the allegations of abuse, which JCW implies that it does.

Publish detailed accounts of the allegations from all of the accusers.

They should even give the alleged offender an opportunity to issue a published statement responding to the accusations, so the public is able to better judge a claim and the accused has a chance to publicly respond. They should clearly state that the accused is presumed innocent unless convicted.

JCW protecting the identity of the victims is a good policy but at the same time they need to provide more information to the public. Maintaining the anonymity of an accuser is vital in protecting them from retaliation, intimidation and threats. The media and courts often maintain victim anonymity in sensitive sexual assault cases, especially those involving minors.

Of course the most error free approach would be to only publish information that is already a matter of public record, such as adjudicated sex offenders, arrests and public investigations. But this approach would give free reign to the countless sex offenders that have evaded the statute of limitations.

There is no easy answer in the quest to balance the need to inform the public of potential danger with ensuring the innocent are not defamed in the zealous pursuit of justice, but a high standard of journalistic integrity should be required before someone is publicly outed as a sex offender.

Source  http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/01/14/exposing-child-predators-without-defaming-the-innocent/

Civil society makes a ‘human shield’ of female kite makers

The civil society on Thursday urged the Punjab government to arrange livelihood for female kite makers and acknowledge the industry as a potential source of income through exports. To raise the issues of women home-based kite makers, HomeNet Pakistan held an awareness-raising meeting with government officials, policy makers, media personnel and lawyers at a local hotel.

The objective of the meeting was to strengthen the kite making sector for creating their visibility, sensitising policy makers for legislation and raise their voices. The meeting was attended by social activist Mehnaz Rafi, SAP Pakistan Director Irfan Mufti, advocate Khalid Zafar, educationist Khalid Malik and Kite Flyers Association President Nadeem Wyne.

To highlight the issues of the kite makers, the speakers said that there was a need for imparting alternative skills to kite makers ensuring their better livelihood. The kite maker women on the occasion sought relaxation in the law regarding checks on twine makers. They said in the past they were earning handsome wages to support their families but now they do not have anything to eat. They also demanded for the provision of alternate skills and businesses.

Irfan Mufti said that these workers need to organise themselves in a group, an organisation or union to get their demands addressed. He further said that government should acknowledge this as an industry and potential for export. Absar Abdul Ali said, “Kite flying is our culture, but it must be safe to life. Human life is the most important thing. Yet these kite maker women should be provided alternate skills to earn their livelihood,” he added.

Civil society members also passed a resolution that government should do some legislation in favour of kite maker’s women workers livelihood and provide them alternate skills and earning opportunities.

Source  http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\12\07\story_7-12-2012_pg13_1

Indigenous people direct victims of climate change

Speakers at a seminar on ‘Climate change: Impacts on Livelihood, Marine and Coastal Resources’ said on Saturday that indigenous people were direct victims of climate change and the state had failed to provide required protection to the people during calamities. 

The seminar was jointly organised by Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) and National Council for Environment Journalists, which attracted a large number of fisherwomen and civil society activists. The event was the part of activities related to a Week of Action for Climate Justice. 

The speakers focused on the overall situation of the depleting natural resources and vulnerabilities of indigenous communities living in rural areas, forests, along lakes and the coasts of Pakistan. Syed Baloch, General Secretary of the PFF quoting the impacts of cyclones, tsunami, floods, droughts and hurricane in the world said these countries have learned lessons from effects and prepared more to avert the losses. But as compared to the world, “we do not have serious efforts to initiate adaptation measures with the involvement of communities.” 

Baloch said Pakistan had designed climate change policy draft, which was approved by the parliament but yet to be implemented.

Nadia Bajwa of WWF Pakistan, focal person on climate change adaptation programme, which is working in 1050-km-long coastal areas from Indus Delta, Keti Bunder, Kharo Chan in Sindh to Jewani, Balochistan province said they are conducting ‘coastal community vulnerability assessment’.  “We are working to have scientific and sociological feedback from various sectors, including indigenous people living in the target areas. We are also working on trans boundary issues related to Pakistan and India,” she said while sharing experiences related to climate change impacts.  Sharing findings of the study, she said they have designed strategy to initiate community level adaptation in two union councils of Thatta district coastal areas.

“We are learning from community experiences regarding visible changes related to climate.” She said Pakistan is on the number 16 of the world index of the impacts of climate change mapping.”

She said mangroves plantation on the priority of WFF because of its role to store carbon gases. Apart from this they offer alternative energy in the coastal areas. 

Majeed Motani, a community elder belonging to Ibrahim Hydri, talking about the status of marine life, said coastal communities are direct victims of sea level rise. Due to negligible approach of the government authorities, marine pollution is increasing, affecting source of livelihood of small scale fishermen. There is no more fish along the beaches and fishermen are losing their traditional sources of income.  He said fishermen are demanding the government to avoid releasing industrial waste into the sea without treatment, but neither the government has policies to challenge polluters nor is stronger voice by environmentalists and media to save natural resources.   Motani said due to depleting mangroves forests the lives and livelihoods might be affected. Karachi is vulnerable to face cyclones and tsunamis, emphasising the need to conserve mangroves to avert the threats of such disasters. He gave a background of mangroves forests, existing around 129-km long city coast. 

NCEJ President Amar Guriro said Pakistan is facing the loss of $365 billion due to depleting ecology over all in the country. Apart from this, he said Pakistan does not have policy to mitigate the effects of natural calamities. 

He said majority of people in hospitals are facing water-related diseases because they do not have access to potable water. Due to change in rain pattern Pakistan is experiencing flood disasters since the last three consecutive years and have lost infrastructure and sources of livelihoods.  Zulfiqar Shah, Joint Director of Piler said Sindh was more vulnerable to disasters. Provincial population is said to be around 50 million, out of which 30 million people live in rural areas, which are more vulnerable to face effects of disasters, depletion of resources and poverty. 

He said about 18 million people in Sindh province live below poverty line and were the direct victims of poverty, food shortage. They do not have access to potable water.

Monsoon pattern change is also impacting on the poor segments of the society, mostly indigenous communities, herders, farmers and fishermen. Majority of people do not have their own piece of land. Farmers and fishermen are vulnerable to face shortening sources of livelihoods. 

He said three million fishermen depend on fishing, deriving their sources of income from marine and inland waters. Similarly, majority of rural communities depend on cultivation but due to the soil infertility they are facing food insecurity. Among the rural people women and children are more victims of the impacts of these changes, he said. 

Earlier, Jamil Junejo in his introductory speech said due to increasing warming temperature the world communities are facing impacts on their lives and natural resources, as these people are natural custodians of natural resources. Mustafa Gurgaiz also spoke on the occasion.

Source  http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/karachi/18-Nov-2012/indigenous-people-direct-victims-of-climate-change

Pope's butler says he's innocent of theft, but guilty of betraying pope he loved like a father

Pope Benedict XVI's onetime butler declared Tuesday he was innocent of a charge of aggravated theft of the pope's private correspondence, but acknowledged he photocopied the papers and said he feels guilty that he betrayed the trust of the pontiff he loves like a father.

Paolo Gabriele took the stand Tuesday in a Vatican courtroom to defend himself against accusations of his role in one of the most damaging scandals of Benedict's pontificate. Prosecutors say Gabriele stole papal letters and documents alleging power struggles and corruption inside the Vatican and leaked them to a journalist in an unprecedented papal security breach.

Gabriele faces four years in prison if he is found guilty, although most Vatican watchers expect he will receive a papal pardon if he is convicted.

Prosecutors have said Gabriele, 46, has confessed to leaking copies of the documents to Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, because he wanted to expose the "evil and corruption" in the church. They quoted him as saying in a June 5 interrogation that even though he knew taking the documents was wrong, he felt inspired by the Holy Spirit "to bring the church back on the right track."

Judge Giuseppe Dalla Torre asked Gabriele on Tuesday if he stood by his confession. Gabriele responded: "Yes."

Asked, though, by his attorney Cristiana Arru how he responded to the charge of aggravated theft, Gabriele said: "I declare myself innocent concerning the charge of aggravated theft. I feel guilty of having betrayed the trust of the Holy Father, whom I love as a son would."

He insisted he had no accomplices, though he acknowledged that many people inside the Vatican, including cardinals, trusted him and would come to him with their problems and concerns. He said he felt inspired by his faith to always give them a listen.

He acknowledged he photocopied papal documentation, but insisted he did so in plain view of others and during daylight office hours, using the photocopier in the office he shared with the pope's two private secretaries.

The trial opened over the weekend inside the intimate ground-floor tribunal in the Vatican's courthouse tucked behind St. Peter's Basilica. Dalla Torre has said he expects it to be over within three more hearings.

In addition to Gabriele, the court heard Tuesday from four witnesses, including the pope's main private secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, who along with Gabriele was the closest assistant to the pontiff.

Gaenswein testified that he began having suspicions about Gabriele after he realized three documents that appeared in Nuzzi's book could only have come from the office he shared with Gabriele and Benedict's other private secretary.

"This was the moment when I started to have my doubts," Gaenswein said.

The book, "His Holiness: Pope Benedict XVI's private papers," became an immediate blockbuster when it was published May 20, detailing intrigue and scandals inside the Apostolic Palace. The leaked documents seemed primarily aimed at discrediting Benedict's No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, often criticized for perceived shortcomings in running the Vatican administration.

Gaenswein said as soon as he read the book, he immediately asked the pope's permission to convene a meeting of the small papal family to ask each member if he or she had taken the documentation.

One member, Cristina Cernetti, one of the pope's four housekeepers, told the court she knew immediately that Gabriele was to blame because she could exclude without a doubt any other member of the family.

In an indication of the respect Gabriele still feels for Gaenswein, he stood up from his bench when Gaenswein entered the courtroom and then again when he exited. Gaenswein didn't acknowledge him.

The trial resumes Wednesday with the testimony of four members of the Vatican police force who conducted the search of Gabriele's Vatican City apartment on May 23. In testimony Tuesday, two police officers said they discovered thousands of papers in Gabriele's studio, some of them originals.

During the testimony, the lawyer Arru complained about the conditions under which Gabriele spent his first 20 days in detention, saying the cell was so small he couldn't stretch out his arms and that lights were kept on 24 hours a day.

Gabriele said those conditions contributed to his "psychological depression."

Dalla Torre invited the prosecutor to launch an investigation, which he did. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the size of the cell conformed to international standards and that, anyway, Gabriele was moved to a bigger cell.

The Vatican police responded quickly with a lengthy statement insisting that Gabriele's rights had been respected, citing the food, free time, socializing, spiritual assistance and health care that Gabriele enjoyed during his nearly two months of detention. They said the lights were kept on for security reasons and to ensure Gabriele didn't harm himself, and that he had a mask he could use to block out the light.

The police warned that they may file a counter complaint against Arru if the investigation shows no wrongdoing on their part.

The trial is being conducted according to the Vatican's criminal code, which is adapted from the 19th-century Italian code. The court reporter doesn't take down verbatim quotes, but rather records reconstructed summaries dictated to her by the court president, Dalla Torre.

On several occasions, Dalla Torre truncated the responses or, with the help of the notary and the prosecutor, reconstrued them, occasionally attributing to Gabriele and other witnesses words they didn't necessarily utter, or leaving out parts of their testimony altogether. For example, the recorded summary of Gabriele's plea didn't include that he loved the pope as a son would.

The recorded testimony was read aloud to each witness for any corrections at the end. Gabriele was able to make corrections as each summary was recorded, but his full testimony was not read back to him at the end.

Source  http://www.newser.com/article/da1lfvk81/popes-butler-says-hes-innocent-of-theft-but-guilty-of-betraying-pope-he-loved-like-a-father.html