Chinyere Martha Udeh

Guilty OR Not Guilty Chinyere Martha Udeh

"Guilty or Not Guilty" explores a largely uncharted course in the administration of criminal justice in the United States of America- the relationship between giftedness and crime. The work challenges the criminal justice system and the government to recognize that there are links between giftedness and crime, and to provide some form of giftedness rehabilitation centres where gifted people could be sentenced to by the court (just like the mentally ill people) to undergo giftedness rehabilitation so that they could learn about their gifts, and how to manage them for the good of society.
Santiago Garcia a widely acknowledged kind-hearted young man never knew what came over him, when he took the gun of a stranger to shoot another total stranger. It was while incarcerated at a detention centre that the secret behind his uncharacteristic action was revealed to him by a fellow detainee, Fenwick Cassim- his giftedness. Santiago was born with the gift that enabled him to absorb the emotions of others and to act on them as if they were his own. He unintentionally absorbed the emotions of Mr. Yoshi Liu who wished to kill Mr. Jeffrey Wilson, and went ahead to shoot Mr. Wilson.
As he underwent trial in court, his attorney was able to establish that Santiago was indeed gifted, after a giftedness assessment test, and that it was his giftedness that made him commit the crime. The giftedness assessment expert recommended a rehabilitation programme for him; rather than the prison. But before the jury could deliver its verdict, Santiago overcame by despair and lack of confidence in the criminal justice system regarding his peculiar circumstances (his giftedness) took the easy way out by committing suicide, leaving open the critical question: would he have been found guilty or not guilty?
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