Criminologist Renee Cummings believes the police may have a case in the court of law in relation to Kaia Sealy, but they have already lost in the court of public opinion.

“You may have a case in the court of law, but you may have already lost in the court of public opinion. And once that happens, something far more difficult than a criminal trial begins to unfold. Because people remember the video. They remember the images of a car riddled with bullets, the headlines, the grieving girlfriend and mother of their baby girl reportedly paralysed after allegedly being shot in the spine, a father burying his son, the child left fatherless, the school friends demanding justice. They remember the media briefing. To many citizens, these new headlines sound less like justice and more like a system trying to explain itself away,” Cummings stated in a post on social media yesterday.

She noted that while there were several legal doctrines which may have led to the decision to issue arrest warrants for Sealy, this decision may have harmed police legitimacy and, as a result, operationality.