High court Judge, Bernie Stephenson, has issued a stern warning to all parties involved in a judicial review matter involving five police officers and a Portsmouth man that “the court will not accommodate any further adjournments and or applications on this matter.”
The officers, Hayden Morgan, Gemma Louis, Martin Seaman, Delvin Challenger and Olan Vigille were arrested and charged in connection with the death of Joshua Etienne who was found dead in his cell at Portsmouth on July 4, 2014.
The matter was set to be heard on Monday, January 26, 2015 (today) but lawyers for the officers requested an adjournment and it is now set for March 25 and 26th, 2015.
It was brought to the court’s attention on Monday that Lennox Lawrence, who was lead counsel in the matter, was no longer part of the case. It is now being led by Geoffrey Letang and Dawn Yearwood-Stewart who appear for Morgan, Challenger, Vigille and Louis. Zena Moore Dyer is representing Seaman.
Stephenson accused both the prosecution and the defense of not complying with the instructions of the court.
“I am going to allow the parties to put their house in order,” she warned.
Letang told the court that he remains optimistic that “something will be done and some resolution will be arrived at.”
“We are ready for the matter to proceed when March 25/26 come and we also believe that it should proceed one way or the other,” he said.
He said he is confident that even without Lawrence, his team is capable of dealing with the matter, a view supported by Yearwood-Stewart.
Yearwood-Steward told the court that they got word from Lawrence on January 23 that he was no longer going to be part of the case.
“He gave us his reasons and his application came before the court this morning,” she noted. “So because of the suddenness of his departure as lead counsel, we were forced to meet over the weekend as to what to do. We are hopeful that by the date set there will be a complete resolution in the matter one way or the other.”
Meantime Attorney General, Levi Peter, said the State believes that charges ought to be read to the accused officers.
He maintained that the State has done all that is possible in dealing with the matter.
“We are prepared to proceed but given this latest development we had no choice,” he remarked. “I am happy with the comments of the Judge and it means that come March 25/26 the matter will proceed, one way or the other, and all parties will be aware.”
Etienne died while in police custody after being arrested by the Portsmouth police for illegal possession of ammunition.
Being an ex-police officer myself. I can clearly say there is no justice for poor the and under privileged citizens on the Island. What is going on is not unheard of. I am very surprised the Dominicans would put back such a corrupt government back in power. And for those idiots who went down to Dominica to contribute to the continuation of this deceptive and self-centered government. Shame on you.
No justice for this man and his family,Dominica is corrupt and is being run by the devil,the evil doers will have there judgement day.God please relieve my country from the evil doers.
Where is the great talker mr Claude weeks
Prot what are you an idiot or what?
Mam if the law can’t permit you justice then spend your money and get justice from the magicians. Don’t allow these bastards to escape with it. God has enough on his hands so spend ur money. To much injustices in this stupid place
hmmm!! your name says it all. smh
idiot. vengence is mine sayth the lord… not ours especially if she has to get the help of satan
“We are hopeful that by the date set there will be a complete resolution in the matter one way or the other.” Now what exactly does this mean? Are they trying to settle this case OUT OF COURT?? Is this what this delay is all about?? The statement “by the date set there will be a complete resolution in the matter” seems to suggest that between now and then they will be working to have it ‘resolved’ so that ‘by the date set’ all will be well. Hmmmmm Mr Letang’s statement also seems to confirm that which I am thinking when it is said that ” Letang told the court that he remains optimistic that “something will be done and some resolution will be arrived at.” Furthermore, when he says “We are ready for the matter to proceed when March 25/26 come and we also believe that it should proceed one way or the other,”, the words “WE ARE READY FOR THE MATTER TO PROCEED” rather than WE WILL BE READY FOR THE MATTER TO PROCEED suggests to me that they were in fact ready to proceed with the…
He isn’t in the military or he isn’t a police officer or a security guard or doesn’t have a license then what is he doing with ammunition? Then we complain about murder and robberies and all the crime happening. I guess he had ammunition as a form of decoration for his house. I’m not saying he should have died don’t get me wrong but it’s time that criminals learn that they can’t do crime and get away all the time.
Pros,
While I do not have any stake in the matter,
we have a judicial system.
You do not kill someone because a crime was commited.
Someone is innocent until proven guilty.
They need to be prosecuted in the courts and serve for their crime.
Not to allegedly murder by a bunch of
incompetent and ill-disciplined police like the
victim himself.
Sad to say, the only people who had rights in
Dominica now, is Skerrit and the police.
“Dominicans wake up and smell the coffee”
This to my mind is another delay tactics by the legal team,this withdrawal by the lead council is nothing more than a trick, ,he still works behind the scene,he knows the only way to defend this case is to delay it because they knew fully well that the trial was to start today because they were told last time in court NO MORE DELAYS..
So once again the defense team was able to secure an additional 2 months. Justice delayed is justice denied, But God is not a police or a lead counsel.
The truth is: How many officers have successfully been sued in Dominica, and how many of them have been subjected to prison terms? How fair is the judicial system and whom can we really trust for justice?
Maybe once again Dominicans will be disappointed but not surprise.
These adjournments are pure and simply deliberate..If these police officers were simple civilians they would have been judged ,locked up or set free like many other murderers in dominica …the dead man’s family needs justice for their son,brother,cousin,uncle ,friend and neighbour..the more the court will adjourn the case the less time they will spend in prison,normally they should give them strict home custody…they are still enjoying life ,walking up and down as they wish while they are responsible for someones son death …justice needs to be down and quick.. police brutality must stop if not the population will have to protect themselves because the police is not capable of protecting the population…
Justice delayed is justice denied. It is time that this country reviews its judicial system so that the state does not continue to pay huge salaries to maintain the judges and no justice is served. I concur with the judge that these people are wasting the court’s time and the family needs closure. It is time that we put ourselves in others shoes and stop making fun of people’s losses when their loved ones depart in this manner and uphold what is right. There are sections of the Act that can be used against the attorneys or at least to command them to act in accordance with the dimensions of the Act so that the country is not burdened by these game playing called technicalities.
The big joke is the Police commissioner has already implicated his officers by his statements. According to him it was a homicide.
Lord, will justice ever serve in Dominica? What a mockery of the judicial system. …
Police Officers’ are above the law in every sense. They know the rules and work hard to frustrate the course of justice. What was preventing the court form reading the charges to the men today? The charges could have been read today and the matter adjourned for trail to a later date. The matter has been in the news for months now. The officers sought redress in the High Court. They did not want the charges read to them. Weeks ago the High Court ruled that the it was very legal for the charges to be read to them. Today they are getting another adjournment, on the slim excuse that Attorneys were changed at the last moment. So what will the Attorneys do next time? Seek some other redress by way of constitutional right and delay the process once again or will they allow the charges to be read and then ask for further time to prepare now that the charges have been read? I am glad is UWP aligned Attorneys who are involved. Before today it was Skerrit’s lawyer who was perverting justice
Now Blackmoore as minister for justice that is what you should be concentrating on, ways and means of speeding up the justice system and putting laws in place so murderers don’t get away on a technicality. Not encroaching people’s democratic rights to protest.
Here we go again!!! The same O same O. When is this Charade going to stop? Do these so called Law Officials really think we can’t see what’s going on? Stop insulting our intelligence and quit stalling. We need justice . No more games!!!!
We demand JUSTICE for:
Joshua Etienne
Emmanuel
Jones
The list goes on and on. Dominicans Rise Up!! Enough is Enough!!!!
Could u please remind me in what matter “Jones” was involved ,I just cant remember