Amy Biehl Trial

* A Times editorial, “Trial and Error” (Nov. 28), commented on the release of three suspects in the trial of Amy Biehl’s alleged murderers in South Africa. I felt that you regarded South Africa as having a substandard legal system. South Africa’s legal framework is currently undergoing significant, and positive, changes in preparation of the “new” post-apartheid South Africa. It is therefore no surprise to those who closely watch the African continent that the witness feared for his personal safety under the current state of lawlessness. This situation is no different from the actions of the jurors in the Reginald Denny trial who opted for peace over justice in their verdicts. In reality, the Pan-Africanist Student Organization in South Africa is very much like a gang in Los Angeles. The witness who refused to testify acted like anyone from a typical gang-infested area in the U.S. would have acted.

You are partially correct in observing that South Africa “has a long way to go”--at least South Africa is making the required changes. But you seem to turn a blind eye to the inadequacies and inequities of the legal system in your own back yard!

JONATHAN M. FINE

Irvine