Harris calls for Firearms Act guilty-plea discounts without informant requirement

President of the Advocates Association of Jamaica (AAJ), Tamika Harris, is urging the Government to amend firearms legislation to allow defendants who plead guilty early to receive reduced sentences without having to provide information on other criminal activities.

“Amend the Plea Negotiation and Agreements Act/Firearms Act so that any defendant who enters an early guilty plea receives an automatic statutory reduction below the mandatory minimum for saving judicial time and acknowledging guilt,” Harris appealed in an open letter to Parliament.

She argued that the existing provision disproportionately benefits people with information about criminal activity while disadvantaging defendants who have nothing to offer investigators.

“Fix it. Give us a straight guilty plea discount without requiring us to become informers. Reward remorse, not criminal résumés,” Harris said.

Her call comes amid renewed debate over mandatory minimum sentences for illegal firearm possession, following a recommendation by the National Security Council (NSC) to increase the minimum from 15 to 20 years.

The recommendation has drawn opposition from the Jamaican Bar Association and the AAJ, which have questioned the fairness of mandatory minimum sentences and their potential to produce excessive punishment by limiting judicial discretion.

Harris’ letter was prompted by comments from Senator Charles Sinclair, an attorney, who defended Section 5(2A) of the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022, and encouraged lawyers to use it to secure reduced sentences.

Sinclair argued that the law provides a mechanism for plea bargaining below the mandatory minimum. Section 5(2A) permits a reduced sentence where an accused provides information that assists the Crown in preventing, detecting or investigating an offence, or in related proceedings.

He said the provision had been successfully used in the Gun Court in a simple firearm possession case, resulting in a sentence significantly below the 15-year minimum with the judge’s agreement.

“What I find interesting is that no one appears to have spoken about the possibility of using the Plea Negotiation and Agreements Act to achieve for their client a reduced sentence below the minimum mandatory,” Sinclair said.

However, Harris described Section 5(2A) as an “escape hatch”, arguing that it favours defendants who can provide useful information about other criminal activity.

She cited hypothetical cases involving a woman whose boyfriend, claiming to be a licensed firearm holder, leaves a firearm at her home and a person who discovers an old or inoperable gun on his property. Both could face prosecution without having information to exchange for a reduced sentence.

“You have given the violence producer a loyalty card and his innocent girlfriend 15 years or more in prison,” she wrote.

Harris proposed an automatic sentence reduction for early guilty pleas and a judicial “safety valve” allowing departures from mandatory minimums in exceptional cases, including found or inoperable firearms, absence of criminal intent, and passive constructive possession.

“You have built a sentencing regime that roars at the innocent and whispers to the guilty,” she wrote, urging Parliament to reconsider the framework.

The NSC has also proposed a new offence targeting adults who groom children to use, store, transport or acquire illegal guns. Further consideration will be given to cases involving children found with firearms, expired firearm licences and imitation weapons, including clearer distinctions between toy guns and realistic firearm replicas.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com