Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Evelina Baptiste, has defended her decision to reinstate an alleged passport fraud matter against former attorney general, Bernard Wiltshire and other claiming its dismissal was not based on merit.
“The dismissal of matter in question for want of prosecution was a procedural dismissal,” she told state-owned DBS Radio. “It was not a dismissal on the merit. Basically, what I mean is that the matter was not tried, not even a witness was taken, it was dismissed because of some procedural deficiencies on the part of the prosecution.”
On Monday, July 21, the matter was dismissed by magistrate Arly Gill for want of prosecution. It has been dragging before the court for three and a half years and Gill said it would be unfair for it to continue, pointing out that the office of the DPP had failed to follow orders on more than one occasion to come prepared to proceed.
According to Baptiste, when a court matter is dismissed on procedural grounds and not on merit, it can reinstated.
“Now a reinstatement of it is not automatic, yes not automatic,” she explained. “But certain things will have to be inquired into, be considered before a reinstatement of the matter takes place.”
Some of the things to be taken into consideration, she noted, include whether the evidence is enough to be taken before a judge and jury and whether witnesses are still available to give that evidence.
Another consideration, she stated, is whether the matter is of public interest and whether it “requires ventilation” publicly.
“One may say that this is a public interest matter because it involves certificates of births of citizens and passports,” the DPP noted. “So it could fall under that category as a matter of some public interest.”
Other persons involved in the matter include Harolda Henry, and public servants, Lyndon Marie, Nash Mitchel, and Kimana James who are facing charges of forgery, possession and uttering of forged passports of the Commonwealth of Dominica and birth certificates.
James was facing five charges in relations to that matter, while Mitchell and Marie allegedly forged documents of persons with Islamic identities.
Wiltshire has strongly condemned the reinstatement of the matter describing it as an “abuse of process.”
please reinstate the pagua bay murder case, madame. the prosecution was just not ready and prepared at the time.
The government has an urgent interest to be seen to address this. Not doing anything is not an option for them because leaving the situation unresolved may negatively affect their economic citizenship p programme.
If their are doubts about the integrity of our passports it devalues them and people may be inclined to invest in another scheme, from another country instead. Some people are bound to lose a lot of potential earnings if this is not cleared up.
Mrs. Baptiste
Please , please please have them bring Sicko Seco back to court for trial ASAP before the case gets thrown out for want in prosecution. Some of the investigators “may” soon retire and will not be interested in returning to court to give evidence. If that happens the magistrate will throw out the case for want in prosecution just like this one so I telling you now please hurry.
If that happens you will not have the belly to reinstate…
. Don’t forget I told you so…Change Is a Must!
Assertive, NOT Agressive!
The DPP office and all other officials should listen to the Mighty Sparrow calypso singing about Power and what happens when it corrupts you and that’s why we need a change .
If and when Sick Seco…get to the court he may just be given a hero send off
Ok, Director of DPP. Fair comment. The problem however appears to be, if it is in the interest of the ruling DLP you are quite happy to reinstate a case. If not, you won’t. I just would like to bring the murder case at Pagua Bay to your attention. Obviously no government interest here!!
Evo I am happy for your explanation but I have a few questions. Does the reinstatement of a case which was dismissed due to procedural failure only apply to communal matters where the state is prosecuting? Can you explain to the public what the role of a notary public is and also why, if the persons who facilitated the fraud are well known, are you charging mr Wiltshire for Fraud with person unknown?
It is beginning to appear as if the legal system in Dominica is being used by the present administration to shake up and unsettle its adversaries. Though this is not new to third world politics, it is certainly new to the Dominican political arena.
The sanctity of the judicial system can only be upheld be its practitioners. When prosecutors become entwined with the political and personal ambitions of the political leadership, lady justice ceases to be blind and the scales she carries becomes imbalanced. When that happens we have selective prosecutions, inconsistent sentencing and a societal elite who are above the law. How far away are we from this being the case in Dominica? Are we there yet?
The DPP should do her job along with the Solicitor General in a timely manner. Had they been in constant contact with the police commissioner on the failure of officers to be in court when detailed we would not be in such a position.
If you all had done your job this damn case would have been over with, …gulity/ not guilty. The DPP office carry some of the blame so reinstating the case is just for the DPP to “save face” because she is now part of the problem. Wiltshire is absolutely right when he says it is an abuse of power in this case because they know Wiltshire will suit the hell out of the government. Great job Mr. Gill even though I was against your appointment to the job. You have shown some “testicular fortitude in this case knowing darn well it is politically motivated.
Assertive, NOT Agressive!
I wonder where did DDp Baptiste went to law school? Or maybe she was asleep during class. They had three years to take anyone of the defendants to court and did not. maybe she need three more years The DDP officer is a mickey mouse operating, i hope they are not getting paid
It is simply abuse of power and abuse of process and the DPP knows that. Why didn’t the DPPs office provide the information to the courts in the 3.5 year time span? Why no information immediately prior to the case being tossed out? Therefore only now will the DPP investigate for relevant info. The DPP’s own response smacks clearly as abuse of power. I thought the DPPs office was independent as former head Mr. Gene Pestaina advised us. I do not understand why the people in these positions continue to insult our intelligence; most of us did pretty well at school.
Trust me Ms. Baptiste, there are people in government circles selling passports that the DPP does not have the balls to touch. Monkey really know what tree they can climb.
There are criminals with DA passports who have never heard the name Bernard Wiltshire, yet they have our passports. Be consistent!
Lang Mama en no priest, nun, pastor, Christian nor Muslim hypocrite so Lang Mama not afraid to call a LBW OR a CAUGHT BEHIND. The last time I checked Ali Gil was on a Political platform in Viellecase preaching about the greatness of a Jesus Skreet. DNO my throat scratching me papa but I not saying anything more so that DNO will put the third umpire on my case.
Anyways Lang Mama went to Law school at Donkey College and an old donkey professor told me it is better to free 50 guilty criminals than to let one man go to jail. Well I hope ALL the magistrate and lawyers honor that practice.
So I visited my old professor at Donkey College and his logic to me was that – just because you hate one cat or (cyat) why cause destruction to that cyat at the risk of exposing all those dangerous and dirty ( dorty) rats hiding behind the cloaks and suits of nasty politicians, Lawyers, judges and high ranking law enforcement.
Lang Mama stop here before they send the Mongoose Gang to take my children.
“It was not a dismissal on the merit.”
“Something must be wrong with the English Language or perhaps the people who try to utilize it, as far as I know the word merit in legal terms, or in any usage means the same thing, and is defined as “the qualities, or action, that constitute the basis of deserts.”
The word also implies; a reward or punishment due for some reason: character, or conduct deserving reward, honor, or esteem. I know in law that could imply the intrinsic nature of a legal case apart from considerations of circumstances, jurisdiction, or procedure.
In any event; from the inception of the matter, the government, the police, and whoever filed that case, had no case against Wiltshire; that is a political, spiteful, malicious, and frivolous law suite they filed against him because he has not supported their cabal! If he was kissing up to those involved in all manner of evil in the country, such as thievery, and random victimization of the innocent, whether he was involved in a scam or not, he would not have become a victim of malicious prosecution.
They could not prosecute him, because there is no basis on which to prosecute, their hope was that the case would simply become dormant, meanwhile the man would have lived for the rest of his life in doubt, without any closure. That in itself though he would not have been convicted of a crime, he would have suffered cruel, and unusual punishment.
When the judge dismissed the matter, he/she should have dismissed it with prejudice, hence the government, and this lady could not have re-file the case. Wiltshire attorney error, he should have asked the court to dismiss the case with prejudice, and that would have been the end of the matter.
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
This statement from the DPP confirms that the justice system is now in complete chaos.
Under complete Political Control
We sleepwalk into complete and utter Dictatorship
A matter supposedly of great public interest and priority takes 3 plus years and yet the prosecution can’t get its act together, clogging up the system further. They should rightfully be ashamed of themselves. Lets see how many years it drags on for again.
Magistrate Gil dismissed the case because for three years the case has been dragging and the DPP Office has not been able to come to court prepared. When Miss. Baptiste says, “certain things have to be inquired into,” and further noted, “the consideration include whether the evidence is enough to be taken before judge and jury and witnesses are still available,” that tells me, she has not been able to produce the evidence and witnesses over the years. I believe this incompetence by the DPP office, is what caused Mr. Gil to take the decision he took. I support him.
Ms. Baptiste has NOT been in the DPP position all these years, so you can blame the DPP office, but you cannot say ‘she” has not been able to produce evidence. The DPP office and all the cases that are backlogged etc. is a big mess, and that is what she came into, a few months ago.
Is this by any chance the same Mr. Gill who it was said was incapable of being an objective Magistrate? Surely not!
Objective? Do you mean subjective.
Our people are so naive. Why are you praising Gill for trying to throw out such serious matters. Is that the only matter that took 3 years in our kangaroo court.I wonder why the magistrate was so quick to dismiss the matter. The answer my friend is blowing in the wind.
By the way is the Wilshire case Siamese to the birth certificate scammers. I don’t get it. I thought these were separate matters
It is my humble opinion that all Dominica should be outraged that cases involving our passports and Birth Certificate s is treated with such disregard by a foreign magistrate. Thanks to the DPP for standing up for the integrity of our sovereignty. Our passport s have been in disrepute for so long. Some say it id’s true others say it is rampant corruption but what I see from the comments is the penchant for party before countr
Nowthis is what I am talking about. As I noted before – we need to stop the political tribalism in Dominica. We need not allow party color to cloud our judgment. UWP supporters as well as Labor Party supporters in the interest of party politics would through objectivity out the window. Just because Wilshire is a public opponent of the corrupt regime does not mean necessarily mean that his case automatically becomes one of victimization – as I stated before let the justice system flow. The same UWP supporters were crying foul while the same DPP was being victimized by the current corrupt regime. At the time she was the best person for the job. Now that DPP has taken action against an out spoken opponent of the corrupt Roosevelt Skerrit regime the DPP is now aligned to the government corruption – That is so wrong and even telling that our people are UWP and DLP are just too inclined to partisan tribalism. I am not perfect but I refuse to be a victim of partisan blindness – I will call it as I see it.
A good way to show that we are prepared to rid ourselves of this plague of partisan blindness the bloggers and regular radio callers like blessings, Luis Robinson , etc -maybe you guys want to publically apologize- Demonstrate your maturity. Let us follow in Danny Lugay’s foot step.
I always felt that the prosecutor was doing the right thing ( although I am not a legal professional) It just didn’t make sense to me that just because of one man, Wilshire, all the other Birth certificate scammers should get a back door pass. I must admit that I was very very curios.
You do not know jack from head to toe and you signing passport for him. its a hard lesson to learn but it sends a message to order.
this is a political sham, because you could see that gon got justice also the man murdered by wesleyan thug. this country is not fun to live in anymore. to much interference in all aspect of law and order and other governmental and even none governmental departments.
just now banks may take orders from EL SUPREMO, EL JEFA, DOMINICANO SUPREMO
May justice be done.
so the others are charged also????