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Last update - 21:06 24/03/2008 The indecent act of plea bargains By Ze'ev Segal Tags: plea bargain, Moshe Katsav  A special bench of three Jerusalem Magistrate's Court judges is slated to deliberate on Wednesday the indictment entitled "The State of Israel versus Moshe Katsav." The facts described in it do not necessarily reflect reality. They are part of the plea bargain agreed upon by the state and the former president's attorneys, after a lengthy hearing. In their deliberations the judges, after Katsav's plea of guilty, will have to endow with meaning the law concerning the rights of victims of a crime that was legislated in 2001 and that has not yet been granted real recognition in practice. This law recognizes the right of an injured party in a sexual crime to deposit in the hands of the prosecution a "victim's statement" that details the damage that has been caused to him or her, including psychological damage. The prosecution is required to bring this statement before the court that is passing sentence on the accused. The State Prosecutor's Office will submit to the court the statement by A. from the Tourism Ministry, whose right to plead as granted by the attorney general and his staff appears ludicrous when compared to the right given to Katsav's lawyers. The amended indictment, the fruit of the plea bargain, attributes to Katsav a criminal offense of committing an indecent act on A., without her consent, through the use of pressure. Advertisement The court is authorized, at its own initiative, to decide to hear her orally, even if this was not made explicit in the law itself, or at the request of the prosecution wanting to see fairness or of the defense. An unmediated impression is intended to help the court do justice in determining the punishment. In this way, the aim of the law on the rights of crime victims will be implemented - to defend the human dignity of the victim of a sex crime. Hearing the victims of crimes cannot be considered an infringement of the rights of the accused. It is customary that the court does not lightly intervene in a punishment that has been agreed upon in a plea bargain - a suspended sentence in Katsav's case. At the same time, it is also clear that the court is not bound to the punishment to which the sides have agreed, and it is entitled to make it harsher. Recently a "new arrangement" has crystalized in the courts with regard to respecting plea bargains. More and more, the courts are refusing to serve as "rubber stamps" for deals that have been cut behind closed doors between prosecutors and defense attorneys, deals that on the surface seem as though they are contrary to the public interest. The oppressive sense of "commerce in justice" that has accompanied any number of plea bargains is weighing even more heavily in the Katsav case, one that "has done serious damage to the dignity of Israeli society," in the words of Supreme Court Justice Ayala Procaccia, despite her ruling in the majority opinion not to cancel the plea bargain because it was not found by her to be extremely unreasonable. Alongside its possibly active sentencing role, the Magistrate's Court is also responsible for ruling on the matter of moral turpitude, which touches upon the area of morals and values. In the words of the attorney general, who undertook at the High Court of Justice to present his view to the Magistrate's Court, there is "grave moral turpitude" attached to Katsav's deeds. The court will also take into account the words of Supreme Court Justice Eliezer Rivlin, who opposed intervening against the plea bargain, but said that even now it is a "grave and serious" indictment. Facing this, in the court, will be defense attorneys, who will try to minimize the gravity of the sexual acts and their circumstances that are described in the indictment. The issue of moral turpitude will also be relevant to the count of harassing a witness, with which Katsav is charged in the context of L. from the President's Residence, whom he sexually harassed and then harassed in connection with the statement she gave to the police concerning his sexual harassment of her. Harassing a witness is considered a grave criminal offense that can interfere with an investigation and trial proceedings. On all these questions - the answers to which will be expressed in the ruling on whether to accept the plea bargain or to cancel it, in full or in part - the court will decide to the best of its judicial judgment. The Supreme Court's non-cancellation of the plea bargain, by a three-to-two majority, on the grounds that it is not extremely unreasonable, does not obligate the Magistrate's Court to approve the plea bargain's details with respect to the punishment. The absence of a clear determination by the Supreme Court in the matter of moral turpitude was aimed at not forcing the hands of the Magistrate's Court even though the opinion of most of the Supreme Court justices is clear from the emphasis they placed on the exploitation of the authority relationship by the person who stood "at the head of the state," as defined by The Basic Law on the President of the State. The Katsav case is one case among many. The ruling on it will set milestones with respect to the limits of what is permitted and what is forbidden in plea bargains, which are sometimes "a necessary evil" and sometimes tantamount to an indecent act toward the public as a whole, and not only toward the victims of the criminal offenses themselves. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Nothing to fear Nasrallah says power of IDF exaggerated, Zionist entity can be wiped out. Sharing the blame Al-Qaida deputy chief calls on Muslims to strike Jews 'everywhere' over Gaza raids.   1.   You`re Bloody Ethnocentric 22:10  |  Fhima 24/03/08

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