On May 11, 2023, when US citizen Jason James Grogg returns to court, Magistrate Pearl Williams will decide whether the 44-year-old man will be granted bail.
Two days after Grogg paid a $25,000.00 fine to the court on charges of possession of firearm and ammunition, the “Christian missionary” is at the mercy of the court yet again as the Customs and Excise Division have preferred eight charges against him.
On May 4, 2023, Grogg who was en route to Barbados for three days to have a meeting with the US Consulate over his previous charges, was intercepted at the Douglas Charles Airport at about 4:15 p.m., by customs officers.
When the accused man appeared for the court on May 8, 2023, Magistrate Michael Laudat informed him that there were five indictable complainants against him and three summary charges. However, Laudat stated, since he recently presided over Grogg’s previous matter he would recuse himself from this case.
He added, the facts of both cases are similar and as a result, he would not expose the court to any allegation of biasness.
The following day, May 9, 2023, Grogg appeared before Magistrate Williams where two of the eight charges were read to him.
On the summary complaint of false declaration, the Customs and Excise Division allege that on March 8, 2023, at the Woodbridge Bay Port in Fond Cole, Jason James Grogg did cause to be submitted to the Comptroller of Customs, Customs declaration C 8312 dated March 8, 2023, which is false in material particular, as it pertained to one Toyota Dyna Truck bearing chassis number XZU685-0005759, contrary to the provisions of Section 186 (1)(b) of the Customs Act Chapter 69:01 of the Revised Laws of Commonwealth of Dominica 2017.
The second summary complaint of false declare further alleges that on September 24, 2021, at Woodbridge Bay Port in Fond Cole, Grogg did cause to be submitted to the Comptroller of Customs, Custom declaration C 32672 dated September 24, 2021, that was false in material, as it pertained to one (1) Glock 19 serial number # BATY153 with laser sight attached, four (4) Glock magazines, forty-five (45) live rounds of 9mm ammunition, one (1) Spartan sentinel generation 2 body armor vest, seventeen (17) Winchester 20 gauge ammunition, four (4) rifle Magazines, one hundred and twenty (120) live rounds of .223 of Remington ammunition, that were undeclared.
Contrary to the provisions of Section 186 (1)(b) of the Customs Act Chapter 69:01 of the Revised Laws of Commonwealth of Dominica 2017.
The accused man pleaded not guilty to both offenses. At the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) request, the court then postponed the reading of the remaining charges to May 11, 2023, in order for the charges to be amended.
When the issue of bail arose, DPP Sherma Dalrymple objected to bail on the grounds that the accused was a flight risk.
She stated the prosecution feared that if released, the US citizen may attempt to evade justice since he was intercepted at the airport at the departure lounge on the day of his arrest.
On her third ground for objection, Dalrymple further urged the court to consider the penalty clauses for the offenses for which the accused is charged, 186.
She alluded to the fact that, if found guilty, Grogg is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $100,000.00 or three times the good or imprisonment for five years.
Finally, she posited, it was not in the public’s interest to grant bail to the accused as one of the charges is regarding firearms and ammunition.
However, in response, defense attorney Jilane Prevost who represents Grogg along with Julien Prevost argued that it was in the public’s interest to grant bail to their client.
According to her, the substantive matter relating to the firearm charges has already been dealt with by the criminal court and the public confidence relies not only on public safety but on the due process of the law.
“The public needs to know that a person before the court does not stand the chance of being in double jeopardy on an offense for which they have already been sentenced.”
She continued, “The public is not aware whether the defendant has been charged under the firearms act or on the customs act 2010, what the public is concerned [about] is, they are seeing the name of this person perpetually in the media and their understanding is that, justice is being served and he is being duly processed and not languishing in the system for charges although under different acts they could have been preferred at the same time.”
Prevost contends, to further remand her client to Dominica State Prison would be an abuse of process since he was incarcerated for 17 days awaiting sentencing for the police charges.
On the issue of flight risk she averred, the court recently ruled that this in itself cannot stand as a ground to deny bail or object to bail for non-nationals charged with any offense.
Instead, she suggested, should bail be granted the court can impose stringent bail conditions that her client is willing to abide by, which include the forfeiture of all his travel documents and reporting to the Mahaut Police Station every day.
Prevost further put forward that there was no evidence that the defendant was attempting to flee from this jurisdiction or attempting to evade prosecution as according to her, on the date he was expected to travel, his parents, wife, and four children were in Dominica at their residence in Belfast and he was expected to return to Dominica three days later.
“No official notice was issued to the defendant re a meeting scheduled with customs or any other agents or division of the law and his travel documents were returned to him by the police following the sentence handed down by the court.”
She concluded, “If he was attempting to escape the jurisdiction his seven family members would not have stayed in Belfast.”
After submission from both the prosecution and defense, Magistrate Williams remanded Grogg at the Stock Farm Prison pending her decision on the bail application on May 11, 2023.
Jason is a flight risk and should be kept locked up. No special treatment for this NRA, gun lover who has no respect for the laws of Dominica
This seems to be a coocoodoodoo thingy where top politicians, top police, customs and port officers and even top church people are deeply connected so the court seems to be playing marbles just as we saw the other day with the Mehul Choksi matter. I even wonder if Man bites dog s and that Liclown Bottom Brain maltravy son of a gun guy were not involved
@Bottom Brain
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄
If the police caught me with a 38 without any bullet I’d be in stockfarm long time. Now these police officers are boxed in a corner acting as children waiting for orders from their 1st grade teacher. That’s good for them. Is on us poor people they have force. But time will tell.
The line drawn between our right to expedite the law in keeping with our jurisprudential systems as an independent sovereign nation, and the need to be careful we do not overplay our hand in the prosecution of this US national may be a very thin one. A word to the wise is sufficient.
Gerard Benjamin, Are you saying because this man is white and a US Citizen we must shy away and let him go Scott free? Or did I misunderstood your comments which is it!!
Not at all. No Dominican would have escaped prosecution by US authorities for a similar matter. But our officers unprofessional and unlawful detention of the man’s entire family was called out by the courts. And this is something the US may take note of. That’s all I’m saying.
He cannot be tried for the second time for the same gun and the ammunition.The container should have been searched,gun and ammonition found in the container ,police called,Grogg charged and arrested.All charges should have been preferred before the container was released to Grogg.Customs should be investigated,and the guilty party dismissed for neglect of duty.
Lin Clown you have a circus.. let the ppl who know there work do what they are doing
Jail both him and his mother gunrunning groomers pretending to be so-called ” Christian Missionary” like you would if it was me or any other Blackman or woman.