Marie Shiela Desiré may have been lucky today when she only got a slap on the wrist sentence for stealing a $107.77 bed sheet from the clothing department at Astaphans.
Desiré is being placed on what Magistrate Ossie Lewis calls a “criminal probation’ and she will pay $350 or spend two months in prison if she commits any misdemeanor offenses in the next nine months.
The 40-year-old St Joseph resident is a Haitian national living in Dominica for the last 25 years.
The defendant appeared in court on Friday morning and pleaded guilty to the charge of theft.
According to the facts of the case, on Thursday May 25 at about 2:50 p.m. the defendant was observed by a security officer making rounds in a suspicious manner in the clothing department at the store. The security officer observed and monitored the defendant until he saw her going pass cashiers and exiting the establishment with a brown plastic bag in hand without paying.
“I did not take anything,” the defendant replied when initially questioned by the security guard. However she changed her story when she was told that she would be searched. “I took something,” she admitted.
Police investigations at the Police Headquarters revealed that the defendant had a yellow bed sheet set in her possession. “I took it by Astaphans because I don’t have any,” Desire admitted to police. “Officer so you cannot help me?” she added.
Attorney Gealdon Richards mitigated on the defendant’s behalf. Richard pointed out that the defendant has been a good citizen of Dominica for 25 years. Richard ask the court not to consider a penal sentence but instead a suspended sentence.
In handing down the sentence, Magistrate Lewis considered that the item were recovered intact, that the defendant was unknown to the court and that she pleaded guilty and did not waste the court’s time.
when Dominican going to St Maarten , Guada , what they go n do ? …………
I wouldn’t want to sleep on the cold floor either especially if I am homeless.
here we go again! i am convinced that if this offence was committed by a male the sentence would be different. then, you hear the statistics of so many male as opposed to females in jail. check it out the women always get only a slap on the wrist.
Everyone possesses some degree of intelligence whether they attended law school or not. She was a first-time offender. She was caught with the bed sheets. They were taken away from her on-the-spot, as she was leaving work. Know the difference.
It is a known fact and world-wide that more men commit crimes than women. There are more men in prisons of the world than women. It is not because they are discriminated against but that as stated, they commit more crimes, what with some gun-totting ones who commit murders, also causing injuries and trade in and utilize illegal drugs. They must also accord others their due rights, dignity and respect. They need to be taught love for one another.
You could do well to try to do something about it and advise those men in your community and those in prison to live by the Law so as not to be imprisoned/remain imprisoned and live a law-abiding lifestyle. This would immensely benefit the Dominican society and themselves.
Remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. …”I have a dream…” Expand on it and help Dominica to realize that dream for the good of all Dominicans.
so u mean to tell me that stealing a sheet set, the government has to make a court case for that, i could understand if it was outstanding quantities, the sheet set was a hundred and change very expensive with less thread counts,i could also understand if it was money embezzlement or fraud, the judge has a lot of time on her hand to waste while cases to be called are still pending. Stealing is not the best thing to do, stop snapping on the poor woman,no matter where u come from u are an African.Temptation could happen to any one it just has not happen to u.
If they do not steal they harm others by their words and actions. As stealing/tarnishing the good names of other in gossip and spreading scandals about them. Who in the world is good and perfect?
I agree that thou shalt not steal. However, under the circumstances I do feel sorry for the woman. It does not matter whether she is Haitian or Dominican. She has learned a lesson and may never do this again. She deserves a second chance.
Keep in mind, God is merciful. Our Lord Jesus Christ has told us to forgive! Forgive! Forgive! Some human beings, as Christian-like as they appear to be and go to church, they have not yet learned to practice this. It is an offense to God to be unforgiving. Ask yourself, if you do not forgive, will God forgive you on that day?
She did not have to be brought before the Court. The bed sheets were returned in good condition and immediately at that. A reprimand would have been sufficient, even though she would have to be privately under surveillance or lose her job.
Let me further inform you. Astaphan, and in years gone by has underpaid and overworked its employees. This is also stealing from employees. Consider the years of doing this. This is in addition to keeping constant scrutiny on them. Their rights as employees were also violated. Has this changed through the years?
Bed sheet costs over $100? How many sheets could people purchase? They will have to make their own. Even fabric is costly.
Magistrate Ossie Lewis, I do know you and your entire family since high school years. A great and reputable family! You know me too and also my family. While you have a job to do and to fulfill, to be fair and just to all, according to the Dominican Law, I am pleased that you did not send her into prison incarceration. You have shown empathy for her. She is suffering enough, humiliated from her action and from the loss of her job. God bless you for that!
God looks down on our actions as imbedded in our hearts and minds and takes note of them.
wells u rigth i will back 100 times
i doh like does dam haitians dere and all dat making me dislike dem more………….dey should deport her rass b4 she had get a chance to put pye on d judge………yo to mauvais!!!!
would u like to be deported if u were leaving overseas?,whether u like them or not the world is there’s also,and we could relocate any where in the world so my dear brother show some love .
wow you real illiterate…
Haiti,how do you pleade? I WANT BED SHEETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO
I know people who voller sheets from HOSPITALS……….don’t tell me that you people never stole something not even $2.00 to buy a little Shirley Biscuit and a ju..c….come on..all voller is voller..
Is she voller because she got caught?
we all know that the bigger voller never get caught………
I was wondering…..is taking something, and stealing something the same? some people take chicken from work to feed their children…
some people would rather put food in garbage instead of giving it to the needy (restaurants)
Some of you your children voller your $20.00 in your purse is he/she a voller should you report him/her to the police….
I use to voller so much money from my husband……..well I never got caught, so I took it..period…
some guys voller their wife ring to give to their so called lovers…..
voller is not voller until you get caught…….
You people are just mad and glad it was a Haitian………
I agree with you just let those Haitians steal anything that is not nailed down because everybody
steals me I steal, you steal , he steal, she steal we all steal lets make it one big freaking stealing party we are all jealous of Haitians
papa bondai what’s going on?
I TRIED READING MOST OF THE COMMENTS BUT COULD NOT TAKE IT ANY MORE SOME OF YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THESE PEOPLE GIVE.TRY STEALING FROM THEM,YOUR FAMILY THAT WILL BE LEFT TO PICK UP THE PIECES,I LIVE IN SXM SO I CAN TELL YOU. THEY ACT LIKE THEY ARE HUNGRY BUT HAVE THE FATTEST BANK ACCOUNT TRUST ME ,TRUST ME THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT STUPID FOR TRUE, THEY JUST ACT IT.I AM NOT HATING,EVERYWHERE HAS GOOD AND BAD BUT HHMMM HHMMM I WILL LEAVE IT THERE.
yes leave it there. you cannot go around blaming a goup of people for what a perentage do.
percentage** you don’t have thieves in your family . whites go around blaming blacks everyday for what other blacks do. so i ask you to stop been so bias. i don’t know what Haitians do to you. are you upset because they have fat bank accounts? go get your fat bank account too. these people are one of the first to get their independance and in fact paved the way for us , they refused to e enslaved by te white slave owners, leave the people alone. you are no better than them , stop the ignorance you have more in common with them than differences , we all do , open your mind and your knowledge .
are you retarded!paved the way for who?they ran into independence and see where that got them into poverty,socery and trying to get out off haiti to any other country.is that so called PM thats importing them so he could stay in power.i refuse to believe that she is in d/ca for 25 yrs execept she bought her nationality when she arrived and now she has no money.
@ monster you are the retarded, they got independence and then france charged them an insane amount of money for reparation, learn your history dumb f**k . hati use to be a number one place for trade. no arguing with you self hater .
you all must stop this racial discrimination bull@#*%! it doesn’t matter who stole, its still theft. so many Dominicans out there steal in Dominica and elsewhere. We cry down the Europeans and Americans for having enslaved humans yet we carry on from them when we keep up this racial critcism. We sing it everyday, “none but ourselves can free our minds” (Bob Marley). Ossie Lewis i believe that your judgement was a good one and the reasons quite agreeable. People, let’s move foward!
@well sah i thought Hatians are the same race as we are here in Dominica. lol if tht is the case how is it racial discrimination?
Haitians are racial discrimination against other people, Haitians do not like no one, whenever they meet other black people they always try to bring them down, imagine this woman living Dominica with a Dominica passport going to some other country, caught stealing, identity Dominican, this is not her first time, Haitians re very tricky, they look for pity where ever they go, many of them are not proud to be call Caribbean Nationals,
ONLY WHEN THEY CAUGHT THEY ARE THEIVES BUT THERE ARE PLENTY OF THEM WALKING
AROUND. THE ONES THAT ARE CALLING HER THEIF THEY ARE JUST AS BAD. REMEMBER
SHE SAID SHE NEEDED ONE. PARDON HER SHE DID NOT TAKE TWO
LETS STOP BICKERING, I KNOW WHAT SHE DID WAS WRONG,BUT WE MUST FORGIVE HER ,BECAUSE AS SHE SAID SHE NEEDED IT BECAUSE SHE DOES NOT HAVE ANY SO WHY DON,T WE COME TOGETHER AND SHOW HE SOME COMPASSION BY GIVING HER A COUPLE OF SHEETS SETS AFTER ALL WE DOMINICANS ARE A GIVING, FORGIVING AND KIND ,LOVING PEOPLE ,I AM WILLING TO SEND HER 2 SETS JUST GIVE ME HER ADDRESS AND I WILL SEND IT TO HER THE STORY REALLY TOUCH ME WE MUST LEARN TO FORGIVE IN TIMES LIKE THESE .AFTER ALL WE ARE ONLY HUMAN AND WE DO MAKE MISTAKES.
B.S Stealing is a crime, therefore, there is no compassion in breaking the law. She could as a neighbour, friend or a church, if she really wanted a bed sheet. SMDH!!!!!! If she had steal it from you what would you say then. This type of behaviour should not be accepted. What type of example you want to set for others.
we all know stealing is a crime and its againts the law .havnt u steal before ?dont tell me know you are the one who use to steal all erics bakery bread i hope u repent
Like you have never broken the law before. Go and read the bible, yOu will see countless stories of forgiveness. Stop being so ignorant!!!
so true so many times we sin in a day yet still the heavenly father forgives us daily at lease she speak the truth
she might have been too ashamed to ask…we dont know de woman situation eh
No Name 2 Stop talking nonesense….smdh did you just hear yourself or you just plain
stupid… SHE MIGHT HAVE BEEN TOO ASHAMED TO ASK I GUESS SHE MUST BE PROUD
TO STEAL.. LET US FORGIVE EVERYBODY THAT STEAL LIKE WE CAN GO TO STOCKFARM AND RELEASE ALL THE PRISONERS LET’S ALL STEAL AND FORGIVE EACH OTHER ! BECAUSE EVERYBODY STEALS WELL WAWWWW
wayyyyyy senjo AGAINNNNNN…weh mama
Shatta the woman looking for you.
why all you doh help her out, she not as fortunate as some of all you you have barrels coming left right and center for all you from oversees. for those of you all receiving the barrels you all no nothing of hard time. ( i know you all not going to agree wth the truth so you all will start clicking on that dislike button. ) lol who the cap fit let them wear it. instead of critiizing why you all dont help the woman out, you all so quick to claim that the people have bad hand and that the working obeah if she was working obeah she wouldn’t have to steal the sheet much less get caught stealing. have mercy on her. many of all yo Dominicans was in the same position of desparation about 20 to 30 years ago. perhaps you all resorted to begging rather than stealing. don’t act all brand new now, help the woman out, today is her day tomorrow may be yours ., we just don’t know what the future holds
You do not have to steal what is not yours. The bible said by the sweat of thy brow thou shall eat bread. She has been living in Dominica for twenty five years and now she go and steal a sheet because she did not have one. The question to ask is if she deliberately leave her home in St. Joseph and said I am going by Astaphan today and steal a sheet. This was a poor defense on the part of the lawyer. She should go and wash for somebody or do minimal work to get the money to buy a sheet. You all say that the Haitains do work that Dominicans do not want to do so give them work so they will not steal. Maybe it was not her first time and now she has gotten caught the excuse is that she been in Dominica for twenty five years.
The word is thou shall not steal. Ask and you shall receive.
I agree with u possie in nyc. She go by astaphans I sure she have sheet at her hone. She just got lust over the pretty sheet and decided to take it. She didn’t leave home just to go for sheet!! She just got tempted and decided to make her bed look prettier..
Who is preventing you from having barrels coming from left right and centre, we do all that we can every pay to but stuff and send for our family, Haitian coming to Dominica, stealing and paying 10 cents to the court, oh my, help her, Dominicans over seas do not get help, we have to work had for every pennies, being oversea is different from being back home, if i have no bread to feed my kids in Dominica, families friends and neighbors do help, but in foreign, too bad, these people are very clever, they do not save money in bank so know one knows their pocket, who knows something this might not have been her first time just that she was caught and playing smarty pants saying she did not take the stuff and asking the officer to help her,
As the saying goes 99 days for the thief and one day for the owner, it was her day to get caught, being in Dominica for 25 years, getting that a break I did not know that when a crime is committed no where in the world, people get break for being in a country for many years, this is bull
Can i live my home, enter any stores in the foreign country steal, and given a light sentence because of being in the country for 25 years, no way, I will have to pay the fine, and still go to jail
Everything bad does not come from St. Joe. They are all about.
No they are not bringing all there old ways in Dominica. We already know those kinds of BAD habits because some dominicans do that all the time. I dnt think deporting is needed there.
Dominicans have more bad ways than the haitians, we ,cant even get visa to go anywhere look how they behaving where ever they are
what ignorance you talking what old ways they bringing to dca, what dominica didnt have thieves before that? stop your foolishness
not like we our selves not doing it. that is the first Haitian i have heard to be in court for such a matter.
Charmed you talking about yourself I am the English man You Ripped off. I am not surprised you`re admitting stealing all be it on D.N.O shame on you. But I already forgiven you.
First one caught, why not first time caught, believe me this is not her first time, who knows how many under garments she stole, are there any fitting room in the store, just asking
alas show a lil mercy..
THATS BATH TOWELS
ebeh weh. hard times
deport dat woman
dey bringing all dere all ways in d country
chupesssssssss please for stealing? Like dominicans don’t steal.
When Dominican get caught in Foreign they send their asses to jail, Haitians coming to Dominica carrying their same old dirty ways we them, asking if Dominicans don’t steal is no excuse for Haitians coming to Dominica and continuing their dirty trade, send her back to Haiti or the USA where many of them that in Dominica come from
look so many crimes dominicans are doin in st maarten soon visa restriction is comin into effect just last week on a particular talk show on the french side sos radio host billie d they were talking about dominicans committing the wiskedest of crimes in sm afrter the jamaicans should they deport all dominicans because of a few stop your ignorance
all u think them haitians stupid by how they acting smart they smart,they never understand, anyways she should hve been deported back to her island or send her to bath estate where the residents on cocaine
How dare you. Bashing Bath Estate residents. I think you are the one on cocaine.
so u dont have any do without it. just giving urself a bad name Haitian doh enough bad names already and making it worst senjoe to we u lucky we doh send u back hati behave urself yeah.
Who are you? The immigration department. You all Dominican to hypocrite. all you family members in St Maarten, Guadeloupe, Antigua, England, USA doing so much ‘ ish’ and they not repatriating them! Everybody makes mistakes.. I tell you, woe be unto DA when them volcanoes erupt!! Treat people as people irrespective of race, color, nationality.
Homeboy,You sound like a haitian. after all you finish sucking out our soco poroam in dominica that is what you saying? Well i rebuke every evil word spoken against my country in the name of Jesus!! No weapon formed against us shall prosper and every tongue that rises up in judgement, i condemn!! in Jesus name Amen. That is how you haitians are. Like to put curse on people. No wonder haiti is the way it is. you all just have wicked hearts. Ungrateful!!. I warning Skerrit them Camem. Wen you do good for people is bad. a kick they will give us for our kindness.
I rebuke you. And I send back all the evil proclamation to its creator, in the name of Jesus Christ. Dominica is bless beyond compare. Dominica will prosper. The volcanoes will not erupt while there are praying Christians and Children of God In Dominica. God have, is, and will continue to bless Dominica because Dominica was dedicated to Him. So I will remind Him of the Oath He made concerning Dominica.
most people i know are thieves ……………the difference in her and them is that she got caught. but
God know your thoughts………….
Is do those haitian thief
aa may haitian sala sortee…so 4 25 yrs in D/A she never had a sheet set so she finally decide 2 steal one…gimme a break eh and d woman still askin d officer if he cannot help her…WTA u in D/A 4 the past 20 yrs n no sheet 2 put on ur bed?
am starting to suspect that its probably not the first time she is doing somethign like that. hope not.
Ha Ha, Haitian Ka Volay Apwezan.
War in St.Joe i do not know why is in St.Joseph them Haitian there coming and spoil our village name we have enough of them doing that go back and rebuild dam haite and come out in people country
is haitian alone that spoiling sen jo name?
so much roro happening in sen joe and is not haitians in dem.
choops
25 years de lady living dere wi….choops….now she’s a problem?
shut up fool so many dominicans in other peoples country doin the dam same i sure u have some family out there illegal
And so are you, there are people from all countries residing in other countries illegal, again this is not a reason for steal stupes, we have Lucians, Vincy, Barbadians, name it somewhere in so other country illegal illegal in foreign does not mean one have to steal and involve in criminal activities, many of them out there working their butts to make ends meet and would never steal, i suspect that you are a Haitian go back to Haiti
This is wrong, if this was a Dominican it would not turn out like this. What makes her different. The law is the law and it is for everyone.
True say, had it been a Dominican or someone from any other Caribbean country stealing in Haiti, they would surely jail them or try to cut off their hands, Dominica’s law is a laughing stock of the Caribbean, maybe stealing them new sheets to send to Haiti, 25years in a country and no sheets, this is outrageous, hard to believe, asking the police to help her, them she would go an tell her other Haitians friends, them when caught, they would say that police gave them a chance before, they are no fools
Best is Dominica then my island