Magistrate Arley Gill has found Nichodemus Francis, a businessman from Portsmouth, not guilty of possession and intent to supply 24 kilos of cocaine.
He appeared in court on Thursday.
The illegal substance, worth $640,800 was reportedly discovered during a bust by the Drug Squad in Tan Tan on June 23, 2014.
During the operation, the police seized a Nissan Pathfinder.
The police called two witnesses, investigating officer corporal Vivian Augustine and police constable Terry Balthazar, to testify.
Augustine told that court that he and members of the Drugs Squad, 12 in all, were on duty when they received certain information which they acted upon that same day. At about 6:00 that evening they left police headquarters dressed in military uniform for an “anti drug operation in Tan- Tan.”
“Upon our arrival at Tan-Tan, about 7:30 pm, I and three of the police officers, including Balthazar, took up a position in a certain area on the eastern side of the Tan-Tan main road among cultivated flower plants,” he said.
That portion of the road, he told the court, is “straight” and he had “an unobstructed view of persons and motor vehicles travelling along that portion of road.”
The area, he said, was partially lit by nearby street lights situated north and south of their position.
“Our location was about the center of that stretch of road and close to the sea shore of the Tan-Tan Bay…about 8:45pm, I noticed a white jeep travelling southwards along the eastern part of the road in the direction of our location,” Augustine recounted.
He stated that as the jeep, registered TC565, got closer, it slowed down and passed near their location with the left front window down and stopped about 10 feet away.
“I continued observing … head lamps were put off, along with engine,” he remarked. “Francis disembarked the jeep and went to the back, unlocked it and lifted back door open and returned to the front seat. At that time, the left and right rear doors of jeep opened and two male quickly disembarked, went to back of jeep and removed two white bags, each containing something bulky, from the rear cargo compartment of the jeep, carried them to the eastern side of the road, spoke to the defendant and left on the jeep.”
He added, “I could hear sounds like the bags were hitting the ground…I continued observing the jeep being driven southwards. We then approached the men in their location and shouted, ‘police don’t move.'”
Augustine said the men ran and Balthazar gave chase.
“I stayed with the bags, I suddenly heard the sound of a boat engine revving away from the bay, the jeep was about 120 meters away saw no one got off it,” he said.
But Francis’ lawyer, Wayne Norde, questioned why could the police, who were heavily armed, allow two men to get away and also did nothing while all the action was going on.
“The prosecution must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt,” Norde told the court. “There are lots of doubts and unanswered questioned that the police can’t explain.
The action of the police, he noted, “was not that of the drug squad.”
“That case and evidence given makes no sense and ought to be dismissed,” he said, describing Augustine’s testimony as “baffling.”
In analyzing the evidence, Magistrate Gill said it made “no sense” and the prosecution was “not able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt” as stipulated by the law.
He explained that he had to act as “judge and jury” and he had to think as the “jury” and so found Francis not guilty of the charges.
All you can’t stop us can’t block us so don’t try. Jah is with us. Money and jah guidience seals it all. U can’t keep a good man down so don’t ever try
The magistrate argued there was ”reasonable doubt” and seems on these grounds found the accused not guilty. However, not every reader agrees with this verdict.
However nobody can deny the presence of the cocaine. (a) It had to belong to somebody. (b) The men in the car acted suspiciously. (c) Apart from the men in the car the police have no other suspect.
To me it reads as if there was a case against Mr. Francis. It looks as if Magistrate Gill put a real spin on things.
Cocaine is a dangerous and harmful drug. This is not something you should take chances on or play around with.
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. Evangelist.
Whilst no one can deny the presence of the cocaine, who are we to say it “definitely” belonged to Mr Francis? The police made mention of two other men, who are they? Where are they? The police claimed that they left solely to buss that particular move, therefore no one should have escaped from the grasp of 12 fully armed and well trained officers who were standing 10 ft from the scene that they so say they witnessed and stated details of…Don’t you find it rather odd that Mr Francis was the only one apprehended?
As much as I agree that cocaine is a harmful and dangerous substance, you can’t just pin a crime on someone without absolute proof.
Mr Francis may not be a saint but he sure is a free man and justice definitely prevailed because whilst reverends, pastors, politicians, all cast judgement, God is not a police!
I am very happy for this man ,at list the government will not get any money from him because that it one of the frequent means of income for the government ,drugs money and yet they are not investing that same money into any thing..
I wonder how much of that $640,800 was paid and to whom for that case to go belly-up?
according to the police they got to ta-tan about 7;30 12 men in all so i would like to know if all 12 were hiding behind the flower/ hedge the reason i ask is how comes no one knew of the boat was it a boat waiting or wait it boat making a pick up if you get to location 1;15 minutes early did you scout the area did you set up a perimeter where you could see everything coming and going knowing ta-tan is a sea port for illegal activities you should have been watching the beach as well so apart from the inconsistencies in the police story the execution of the operation was flawed and so the police has to do a better job all around both in presenting evidence and setting up sting operations
Is the magistrate saying that if someone is the only one caught in a stolen vehicle, because they had a broken leg, or were too fat, to get away like the others who were in the vehicle with them; that if one police said that he saw two others run away and the other officer saw three; that another officer said that one had a red hat, and an other officer describes the hat as maroon, then these inconsistencies are sufficient to say that this person is not guilty of being in a stolen vehicle!!??
I am not a lawyer of any sort:
But if I am defending that person, who is left in the vehicle, was he driving? The vehicle could be very much stolen, but did my client do it, he may have just gotten a ride.
Until, someone can come and prove that it was my client that actually stole the vehicle, there is reasonable doubt. An eye witness can come and say that it was he, but i would try to discredit that eye witness.
The prosecution have to prove their case.
well i going to run drugs now….dominica nice boy…the location will be…de building next to arawak house of culture umm de financial building
I do not understand the magistrate! This case does not hinge on the presence or capture of the others. The findings should be: were illicit substance found, was the accused associated with said substance directly or indirectly. If there are probable cause, then process. The defense did not present any credible argument! If they suggest entrapment, then prove it! The others involved are seperate cases, their testimony could have been used as evidence in the case, but their abscense is not detrimental to the case, as decided by the magistrate. They also seem to suggest set-up, the others be informants or people with gravitas and contacts, who were allowed to slip away. This still does not change the basic facts of the case. All over the world law enforcement uses informants and try to protect their identities. This case points to the profund lack of sophistication, or deep corruption of our legal system! This case should be reviewed by the Attorney General, DPP and legal Dept!
I am not wasting my time commenting on this one. Most of us know anyway why it came to this miscarriage of justice.
@ Silver Silver…
it is not the defense that has to prove their case… the Defense did not take the Police to court.. it’s the other way around.
For one, how can you for sure tell if this was not a setup. The mere fact that you have that thought of entrapment, is reasonable doubt. Nothing was proven in this case. Now if the police took pictures of the operation they discussed, then that is something else, they have proof at that time.
So stop about corruption in legal system, it is about proving your case.
You are so right, but all the people you are asking to review the case are all part and parcel of the corrupted pyramid. So good luck with that.
I’ll repeat my comment from three days back. Destroy the small guy with weed, while white color crime is rampant
That is another thing bro. You ever hear about a raid on ganja plantation in the north? Don’t ell me they don’t grow that stuff there and all Possie people are saints.
Bonus for Arley. He can stay in Dominica now. Boy oh boy.
Minister Blackmore, must be held responsible for this travesty. Had he given the police and prosecution the needed assistance in preparing and presenting this case we would not be in this predicament.It’s time for responsibility to be placed where it belongs.How can we have confidence in this Labour administration. Looks like they fail us at everything they touch.They kill Agriculture, Tourism,Manufacturing and lack foresight to take the country forward.Heaven help Dominica
allu doh seeing that country finish? lol
i saw a flying elephant wearing a pink thong.
dno you are missing the most vital part the story and i guess you left it out so that you could get the reaction of the people. where and when did the police arrest this man? this changes the whole outcome of the case. you left out the most important information. let the people know the entire story as it was reported to court. journalism is everything!
You wouldn’t be our legal expert Carlisle by any cance would you, the village gossip that calls himself a journalist?
So all them pardners saw what Nichodemus do and he still cannot get jammed up with the charges???
So why wasn’t the matter brought before a Judge again???
There is a distinct difference between a Magistrate and a Judge isn’t there Mr. Attorney General, Mr. Levi!!!
The comedy continues…………………………………………………
We just not on par with the rest of the world
I see the magistrate point. Corporal Augustine, stated he received information prior to the operation. O.k so who, and how was the information obtain, did someone walk in the station or called, was in anonymous,or a confidential informant. that make a big difference, to the presenting the case. so the corporal see a white jeep, that stop, the driver/defendant, turn off his light and goes to the back and open it, then driver get back inside, while 2 unknown, unapprehend, men removed white bags from the vehicle, O.K so far no crime has taken place. there is no reason to stop them or the vehicle. So after the search of the bag the corporal found the drugs/evidence. but the driver francis did not touch the bags or unload the bags. the police did not have a nexus, they should have, went to the vehicle and arrest all 3 of them before the got out, with the evidence inside, of the vehicle, and charge all 3 with possession
First of all learn proper English before making your comments. “should have went”? I suspect you reside in the U.S. because only there uneducated people use this atrocious kind of mangled English. The correct form is ” should have gone”. On the legal side, police are entitled to act on suspicion and a prosecution can be based on circumstantial evidence but perhaps you have never heard of that either.
How was the information obtain and from whom is irrelevant. Justice system is weak.
The Magistrate must be smiling inside of his nose….
All i can say is wow wow wow..crime will never stop in this place.
The police officers saw the man drive his vehicle, deposit bags of cocaine along the road then identified themselves to him, arrested him and now he is found not guilty due to reasonable doubt? I guess from now on police have to film what they doing. DA is a crime haven now, they can see you catch you and you can still be innocent.
Even if it is filmed, it still won’t hold up in court… smh
The best place in the world to commit crime is the commonwealth of Dominica Bravo norda your time is close at hand
The lawyer is questioning…. Why the police did noting whilst they were heavily armed?? So the lawyer is saying that the police should shoot Francis dead.. Or use there arms and shoot after them?
Court may find you not guilty, but we all know the nature of your business, “businessman.”
S.M/.F.H. I rest!!
How do we expect the police to continue to risk their lives, keep motivated and have high morale, when the judiciary seem to throw away any major case down the drain, scuttling the little effort mustered by a few?
We should get rid of that court system in D/ca folks, Them people just drawing salaries to do koshone. I never see a good verdict on a case since like 07…
The mills of God grind slowly but when they grind, they grind real fine…the longest rope has end !
The prosecution needs to appeal that decision, this magistrate must be kidding, this is madness by that magistrate, this magistrate dont need to be on the bench, i recommend another year in law school for that magistrate.
He is a businessman not a poor man so he’s not guilty
So who will be held responsible for the drugs now? How was this case lost? Was it because of Police incompetent investigations or lost of the evidence at some point during the time when the guy was on bail? Many questions need to be asked here of the Police and the prosecution team at large.
This is where the DPP has to come in the satisfy the Dominican people that all was done to convict this man and how comes it went bust!?
Somethings is wrong here. How can you get all this dangerous drugs and no one is held accountable after such a dragged out case?
Hey “Traveller” i feel the same as you. the police should have had more resources, the night of the operation. which means more officers, lights, vehicle, and maybe night vision equipment, so they might have arrested the 2 others. which would have made the case stronger. But also does the police and the DDP have the sophistication to take on and fight the criminals. Can them run counter operation, tap land and cells phone, spy on banking, money transactions, and FB profiles and “flip” some of the dealers, to be informants. And it also up to the people themselves to stop, buying, using, and transporting drugs, the police cannot do it all by themselves
Been asking the same questions.
Too much cocaine there in front of us. Had to belong to somebody. One man – a possible suspect – found innocent. Several others left. I wonder if they were questioned. Did the police even reign them in
Did I hear the word ”appeal”
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. Evangelist.
DNO seems to provide more details of the man personal life than actual substance to the story. Smh
What are you talking about? Reading this story I have no idea who this individual is, whether he is married, has children or what type of business he is involved in. So how do you conclude that the story is about the man’s personal life. This is a joke, how can the police observe all that activity and not intervene before people had time to get away? They should also have night vision equipment to record these things.
I never read DNO and i never make comments here. Not guilty is my plea.
Did Forche turned the drugs into something else?
They dont test substances in Dominica
Of course they do….they sniff it!
So they don’t test drugs in Dominica
Then we don’t have any proof the stuff is even cocaine, right
Did the accused have any previous drug charges or run ins with the law With that much cocaine this does not look like something he would be doing for the first time. More like an ongoing business!
A more reasonable way of arresting him would have been to place him and the area under surveillance for a couple of days, or even tap his phone if you do that in Dominica.
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. Evangelist.
Things slow in da
This is unbelieveable. What went wrong here? Some details would be great as to why the judge found Mr. not guilty. We need to start bringing in judges for such high profile cases.
#OLD!
D.a rough
Da rough.
Nothin went wrong the man was found not gulity
Oh, well is me that had intend to supply
As expected.
right. we all knew he wouldnt face jail time. God is above anyways.
Politics taking Licks like a piece of stick
What went wrong here???
the comment below says it all
Money talks and bulls….. walks in Dominica. The Country nice boy!
Someone ate it
before charges are made the substance had to be tested. right? so what happened to the drug.
Ummmmmm ok